Image source: topwar.ru
SpaceX announced the launch of a launch vehicle (RN) with a group of satellites as part of the mission of the US Space Force (Space Development Agency). As specified in the American company, it was about 10 communication satellites placed in low orbit.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched from the west coast - from the area of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. As a result, the rocket booster returned to Earth, landing in the Vandenberg landing zone. The mission itself was scheduled for March 30, however, SpaceX management postponed the launch for several days for unnamed reasons.
The rocket carried 2 space satellites of the developer SpaceX, whose task is to track ballistic and hypersonic missiles, as well as 8 spacecraft released by York Space Systems to transmit data from space-based sensors to the Earth's surface.
The Space Development Agency (SDA) was established in March 2019 to assist the Pentagon in creating a more viable space architecture in low Earth orbit, located within 2 thousand km above the Earth's surface.
Thus, the creation of hundreds of relatively cheap satellites allows the US Department of Defense to significantly expand its galaxy of large and expensive spacecraft.
It is worth noting that all 10 spacecraft (spacecraft) are part of the Tranche 0 mission, which involves putting 28 such spacecraft into orbit in the form of two groups. The first one will include 10 satellites (8 of them belong to the so-called transport layer for data transmission). Up to $1 billion is expected to be allocated for these purposes until 2025.
