SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on November 6, 2026, carrying a classified payload for the U.S. Space Force. The mission, designated USSF-432, lifted off from pad 4E at 4:48 p.m. PST (7:48 p.m. EST).
The rocket followed a south-easterly trajectory from the central California coast as the sun set toward the Pacific. SpaceX cut its live webcast approximately 10 minutes into the flight, shortly after the Falcon 9’s first stage completed its descent and landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You,
which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean. The Falcon 9’s upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying its mystery payload skyward.
Booster 1095 completes eighth flight
The first-stage booster used for the mission, designated B1095, has now completed eight total flights. While its previous missions were launched from the East Coast at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, it transitioned to West Coast operations after launching the GPS 3-8 mission in April. The booster’s previous missions included the GPS-III 8 mission and six Starlink missions, according to a mission description. Following stage separation, it landed on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.
The USSF-432 mission marks the 119th Falcon 9 launch of 2026 and the 14th national-security flight for the rocket this year. According to Spaceflight Now, this launch was originally scheduled for November 1 but faced repeated delays, first due to the Starlink 15-18 launch and later for undisclosed reasons.
The vast majority of Falcon 9 missions in 2026 — more than 70% — have been devoted to building out the Starlink megaconstellation, which consists of more than 11,000 active satellites. SpaceX has also launched six other missions this year. Three were operational flights of the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket, while the other three were test missions of its next-gen Starship vehicle.
Watch Falcon 9 launch the USSF-432 mission from pad 4E in California https://t.co/mAKgbT1mxx
— https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2118864998407852102
Speculation regarding Starshield satellites
While the specific nature of the payload remains undisclosed by both SpaceX and the Space Force, observers have identified patterns linking the mission to the U.S. Space Based Sensing and Targeting (SBST) program. Space.com reports that NextSpaceflight.com suggested the payload might consist of classified low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites using the SpaceX Starshield satellite bus.
This assessment is based on the observation that the rocket stage drop zones for this mission match the locations used in previous Starlink Group 15 launches. The mission is also identified in public documents as R-4, part of a series of “R” missions that began on August 16 with USSF-366. Previous launches in this sequence, such as USSF-153 (R-2) and USSF-385 (R3), each placed 23 satellites into orbit. According to Jonathan McDowell, the respected tracker of space launches, the R satellites are part of the U.S. Space Based Sensing and Targeting program.
Starlink is SpaceX’s LEO broadband megaconstellation, which consists of more than 11,000 active satellites. Starshield is a similar system designed to provide services to the U.S. military and its allies. Starshield satellites are believed to be based heavily on the Starlink spacecraft bus. SpaceX plans to retire both the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy shortly after the fully reusable Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, is up and running.
The Space Force has declined to provide information regarding the mission. Neither SpaceX nor the Space Force has confirmed whether satellite deployment was successful on this or previous flights in the series.
