On Wednesday, February 14 at 5:30 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched the USSF-124 mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This was the seventh launch of the first stage booster, which previously supported Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER, and four Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9 is carrying six prototype missile tracking satellites for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Space Development Agency (SDA)
The flight carries two Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites for MDA. Northrop Grumman and L3 Harris each built one of these prototype Medium-Field-of-View (MFOV) missile tracking spacecraft that are designed to track dim targets such as hypersonic glide vehicles as they maneuver in flight, with sufficient accuracy to provide targeting data for missile defense systems.
Also on board are four Wide-Field-of-View (WFOV) missile tracking satellites built by L3 Harris for the Tracking Layer of SDA’s Tranche 0 constellation, the demonstration phase of the new Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). This is the third and final launch for Tranche 0.
After stage separation, the Falcon 9 booster returned to landing pad LZ-2 at CCSFS. Space Systems Command (SSC) confirmed successful deployment of the satellites into their intended orbit.
USSF-124 is the 11th National Security Space Launch (NSSL) mission for SpaceX, and the second under the NSSL Phase 2 contract.
Dr. Walt Lauderdale, AATS mission director at SSC, said, “As we move forward together with SpaceX, we’re methodically expanding reuse to leverage the benefits for the USSF and our space vehicle teammates. The mission team was able to add the Tranche 0 satellites to USSF-124 in under 30 days, less than six months from the then scheduled launch date. This unprecedented responsiveness is a needed capability for the Space Force to confront today’s threat environment.”
SpaceX also plans to launch 22 Starlink internet satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on February 15.
And SpaceX plans to launch IM-1, a private moon-landing mission, on February 15 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX plans Wednesday USSF-124 mission launch
SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, February 14 at 5:30 p.m. ET for Falcon 9’s launch of the USSF-124 mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. If needed, a backup opportunity is available Thursday, February 15 at the same time.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about 15 minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.
This will be the seventh launch of the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER, and four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.