A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 13 Tranche 0 demonstration satellites for the US military’s Space Development Agency (SDA). Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California is scheduled for 7:26 a.m. PDT (10:26 a.m. EDT / 1426 UTC).
The launch is the second Falcon 9 mission for SDA’s demonstration spacecraft for a constellation of future military missile tracking and data communications satellites. The constellation’s ten satellites were launched on April 2. Falcon 9. Four more satellites are planned to be launched in a later mission by the Missile Defense Agency, according to an SDA fact sheet.
The Falcon 9 has 11 communications satellites that are part of what the SDA calls the “Transport Layer” and two satellites for the so-called “Tracking Layer.”
The Falcon 9 first stage booster, on its 13th flight, will return to Vandenberg Landing Area 4 about seven and a half minutes after launch.
