[ad_1]
SpaceX launched a mysterious national security mission today (February 14) in a flawless late afternoon launch.
A Falcon 9 rocket launched the classified USSF-124 mission for the US Space Force from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today, right on time at 5:30 pm EST (2230 GMT).
The first stage of the Falcon 9 returned to Earth for a vertical landing at sunny Cape Canaveral about eight minutes after liftoff. SpaceX launch webcast shortly after at the request of the Space Force. The landing marked SpaceX’s 272nd landing of an orbital-class rocket.
Related: SpaceX: facts about Elon Musk’s private space flight company
Today’s mission was the seventh launch and landing of this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.
We don’t know much about USSF-124. The Space Force was silent on the matter until this morning, when it emailed a statement saying the mission is ready to fly.
That statement revealed that USSF-124 will send six satellites to orbit, two for the Missile Defense Agency and four for the Space Development Agency, but did not describe the spacecraft or its planned orbital tasks.
“With every national security launch, we continue to strengthen America’s capabilities and deterrence in the face of growing threats, while adding stability to a very dynamic world,” he said in the emailed statement. “It’s what we do in the Space Force and we take that position seriously.”
USSF-124 could be part of a busy stretch in spaceflight. At 7:30 pm EST tonight (0030 GMT February 15), for example, SpaceX plans to launch 22 of its Starlink Internet satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Then, at 10:25 pm EST tonight (0325 GMT February 15), Russia will send the Progress 87 robotic freighter toward the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Soyuz rocket.
And SpaceX plans to launch IM-1, a private moon landing mission, on February 15 at 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, which is next to the Space Force Station. Cape Canaveral.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:10 a.m. ET on Feb. 14 with information about USSF-124 from an emailed statement from the Space Force.