Northrop’s first military satellite plane launches on Falcon 9

Northrop Grumman’s first group of 21 satellites for the US Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer launched from California on October 10, 2026. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 carried the batch from Vandenberg Space Force Base; Northrop’s dated release and Spaceflight Now’s updated launch report document the flight.

Spaceflight Now recorded liftoff at 12:39 a.m. PDT, or 07:39 UTC, on Saturday. Its page retains an October 9 publication header, but the updated account describes the Saturday launch, consistent with Northrop’s October 10 release. The flight followed an October 5 countdown abort and several postponements.

The satellites are designed to relay secure military communications in low Earth orbit. Northrop describes them as extending Link 16, a tactical data network, into space and connecting military users with the architecture’s missile-tracking satellites.

Launching the spacecraft does not establish that the complete network is operational. Spaceflight Now reports that Tranche 1 is expected to begin providing operational capabilities in 2027; Northrop’s release announces deployment rather than completed network commissioning.

Northrop plans a second group of 21 Transport Layer satellites. Its release also anticipates additional launches for the wider military architecture over the following six months, without giving a launch date for that second group.