SpaceX's USSF-627 Launch Moves to Tuesday Night From Vandenberg

Vandenberg's busy November has slipped by a day. SpaceX is now targeting Tuesday, November 10 for the Falcon 9 launch of the USSF-627 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the company says on its official mission page. The four-hour launch window opens at 6:49 p.m. PT and runs to 10:49 p.m. PT.

The mission had been set for Monday evening, November 9, with a window opening at 7:03 p.m. PT — the attempt WorldEye previewed yesterday. Monday came and went without a liftoff, and the updated schedule published by the Arizona Republic (USA TODAY Network), reflecting the new launch windows, now lists USSF-627 under its Monday heading with a Tuesday window: 6:49 to 10:49 p.m. PT on November 10. In effect, the mission has moved onto the backup slot that was already reserved for it.

If Tuesday does not work either, there is one more chance close behind it: SpaceX lists a backup opportunity on Wednesday, November 11 at 6:35 p.m. PT.

The window opens at 6:49 p.m. PT on Tuesday, November 10 (02:49 UTC on Wednesday, November 11) and stays open for four hours, until 10:49 p.m. PT. A backup opportunity follows on Wednesday, November 11 at 6:35 p.m. PT, according to SpaceX.

The flight plan SpaceX publishes for the mission is the standard Falcon 9 profile: liftoff at T-0, Max Q — the moment of peak mechanical stress — at 1 minute 7 seconds, main engine cutoff at 2 minutes 25 seconds, stage separation four seconds later, fairing separation at 2 minutes 56 seconds, and the first stage's landing burn beginning at 8 minutes, with touchdown targeted for 8 minutes 22 seconds after liftoff.

USSF-627 is a classified satellite deployment mission for the U.S. Space Force, according to SpaceX, and the payload's details have not been disclosed. The Falcon 9 flying it is a two-stage, 230-foot reusable rocket capable of carrying more than 50,000 pounds of cargo to low-Earth orbit, and the mission flies on a southeast trajectory out of Vandenberg.

Because the mission is classified, outside analysis is necessarily speculative. Launch trackers have noted that the planned drop zones for the rocket's stages closely match previous Starlink Group 15 flights and have suggested the payload could be a batch of satellites based on SpaceX's Starshield bus — but that identification is unconfirmed, and neither SpaceX nor the Space Force has endorsed it.

This will be the seventh flight for the first-stage booster supporting the mission, SpaceX says. The booster previously launched NROL-179, SDA-T1TL-E, SDA-T1TL-A and three Starlink missions — a flight history that mixes national-security payloads with SpaceX's own constellation work.

After stage separation, the booster will land on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean downrange from Vandenberg. SpaceX also advises that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, depending on weather and other conditions.

SpaceX will carry a live webcast of the mission beginning about 10 minutes before liftoff, on its mission page and on X @SpaceX. For people watching with their own eyes, this is a night launch on a southeast trajectory — the profile the Arizona Republic notes gives spectators in Arizona a good chance of seeing the rocket streak overhead on a clear night, and the same geometry favours viewers across Southern California.

USSF-627 is the second of at least two classified Space Force missions from Vandenberg this week. The Arizona Republic's updated schedule lists USSF-317 next, on Friday, November 13, with a window opening at 8:09 p.m. PT and running to 12:09 a.m. PT on Saturday — also from SLC-4E, also southeast, and also landing its booster on Of Course I Still Love You. The two missions follow Friday, November 6's USSF-432 liftoff, making this the West Coast's third Space Force launch attempt of November.

Whatever USSF-627 carries will enter the tracked orbital catalog once it is in orbit. WorldEye's satellite tracker follows catalogued objects on the live globe, alongside the space station tracker and the site's 74,229 cameras — the place to watch tonight's classified payload become a tracked object.