Before sunrise on the West Coast, SpaceX successfully launched a classified U.S. military mission known as USSF-385 into orbit. This mission marks the third Space Force launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California in just over two weeks, with liftoff occurring at 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT).
The payload and mission specifics remain undisclosed due to the nature of national-security launches, and SpaceX’s webcast ended shortly after the first-stage booster landed on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Pacific Ocean, about 8.5 minutes post-launch. This was the booster’s 10th flight.
The USSF-385 mission follows earlier launches USSF-153 and USSF-259 earlier in September. Reports suggest that this mission may involve government-use Starshield satellites, although the Space Force has yet to confirm this.
These launches underscore the increased emphasis on deploying national-security assets into orbit, which support military communications, intelligence, missile warning, and navigation—highlighting SpaceX’s expanding role in U.S. national-security efforts amid geopolitical competition with China and Russia.
