Launch success.
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SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A
Falcon 9 Block 5
Tranche 1 Transport Layer A 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. This launch carries 21 satellites manufactured by Northrop Grumman.
Mission updates
Status reported by the mission data provider.
Mission
Tranche 1 Transport Layer A 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. This launch carries 21 satellites manufactured by Northrop Grumman.
- Launch vehicle
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- Mission type
- Government/Top Secret
- Destination orbit
- Polar Orbit
- Launch pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E
- Provider
- SpaceX
- Recovery
- Return to Launch Site, Landing Zone 4 +1
The vehicle
Published configuration and flight history.

Falcon 9 Block 5
Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.
- Height
- 70 m
- Diameter
- 3.65 m
- Stages
- 2
- Recorded launches
- 637
- First flight
- 2018-05-11

Recorded timing
A single moment in the published record. Recorded timing from the mission source.
Flight timeline
Planned sequence, not live telemetry. Times are relative to the launch target.
- T−00:38:00
GO for Prop Load
- T−00:35:00
Prop Load
- T−00:35:00
Stage 1 LOX Load
- T−00:16:00
Stage 2 LOX Load
- T−00:07:00
Engine Chill
- T−00:01:00
Startup
Show the full sequence (21 events)
- T−00:01:00
Tank Press
- T−00:00:45
GO for Launch
- T−00:00:03
Ignition
- T+00:00:00
Liftoff
- T+00:01:04
Max-Q
- T+00:02:14
MECO
- T+00:02:18
Stage 2 Separation
- T+00:02:25
SES-1
- T+00:02:31
Booster Boostback Burn Startup
- T+00:03:04
Fairing Separation
- T+00:03:24
Booster Boostback Burn Shutdown
- T+00:06:09
Entry Burn Startup
- T+00:06:21
Entry Burn Shutdown
- T+00:07:15
Stage 1 Landing Burn
- T+00:07:19
Stage 1 Landing
Launch site & orbit
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Launch site & orbit
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Coverage & sources
Source record updated
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