SpaceX successfully launched USSF-153, a classified mission for the United States Space Force, on September 10, 2026, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission payload remains officially undisclosed, though analysis of rocket stage drop zones suggests the flight likely carried a batch of classified low-Earth orbit satellites based on SpaceX's Starshield satellite bus, a military-variant platform derived from Starlink technology.

The mission lifted off aboard a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, the workhorse vehicle that has become central to SpaceX's high-cadence launch operations. Vandenberg SFB's Space Launch Complex 4E, located on California's central coast, provided an ideal launch site for polar and near-polar orbit insertions required for national security missions.

The launch succeeded as the 104th Falcon 9 mission of 2026, reflecting the dramatic acceleration in orbital launch frequency that has become routine for the commercial spaceflight industry. This achievement underscores SpaceX's operational maturity and the increasing reliance of U.S. military and intelligence agencies on commercial launch providers for critical space-based capabilities.