SpaceX to Launch Space Force USSF-432 Mission From Vandenberg on the Evening of November 3
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, November 3 for a Falcon 9 launch of the US Space Force's USSF-432 mission, according to the launch schedule on the company's official website. The four-hour window runs from 5:28 p.m. to 9:28 p.m. Pacific Time from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, with the first-stage booster set to land on a droneship at sea.
USSF-432 is a classified Space Force mission, and SpaceX has released no payload details, in line with the service's practice for such launches. GSM reported on October 15 that the USSF-481 classified mission lifted off from the same base and recovered its booster successfully.
The launch falls on November 3, the day of the US midterm elections. With the window in the local twilight hours, weather outlets report that residents across Southern California and much of the West may be able to see the rocket's glowing exhaust trail, the so-called 'space jellyfish,' weather permitting. Vandenberg is SpaceX's main West Coast launch site; the company launched 27 Starlink satellites from the same base on the evening of October 30, as GSM reported.
Related: Follow-Up: Classified Space Force USSF-481 Mission Lifts Off From Vandenberg
Source: GSM · USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：猎鹰9号在加州范登堡（SpaceX 摄，经 Wikimedia Commons，CC0）。图为资料图，非本次任务。 / A Falcon 9 at Vandenberg, California (Photo: SpaceX via Wikimedia Commons, CC0). File photo, not this mission.
