Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer D
Falcon 9 Block 5 is scheduled to launch the SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer D mission for SpaceX from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, no earlier than Dec 31, 2026 (UTC).
Launch pad
Space Launch Complex 4E · Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer D
Launched Dec 31, 2026 9:00:00 AMTBD
Flight direction
180° S
estimated from the target orbit · inclination 90.0°
Flight path
First-stage drop zone (rough estimate)
Drawn 400–700 km downrange along the flight direction. Official hazard areas are published as NOTAMs and navigational warnings.
Can I see it from my city?
The launch time is not fixed to the hour yet: check again closer to the day.
About the mission
Tranche 1 Transport Layer D is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites. The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance.
Mission description from Launch Library 2.
- Launch time (your time zone)
- Thu, Dec 31 · 9:00:00 AM · in 65.9 days
- Status
- TBD
- Launch provider
- SpaceX
- Rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- Mission type
- Government/Top Secret
- Target orbit
- PO
- Launch pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E · Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA