SpaceX is preparing to launch a combination of 21 Starlink and two Starshield satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday night.
Starshield is an alternative version of the government’s Starlink satellite architecture. SpaceX has not announced which US government agency ordered the two satellites or if they are for any foreign governments.
The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 17-43 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for Saturday, June 6 at 9:24:30 p.m. PDT (Sunday, June 7 at 12:24:30 a.m. EDT / 0424:30 UTC).
Spaceflight Now’s live coverage will begin approximately 30 minutes before liftoff.
SpaceX will fly the mission using a Falcon 9 first stage booster with tail number B1097. This will be its tenth flight after launching seven batches of NROL-172, Twilight Rideshare and Starlink satellites.
A little more than eight minutes after takeoff, the B1097 drone will aim for a landing on the ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You’. If successful, it will be the 201st landing and 620th booster landing ever on this ship.
Although never publicly announced by the National Reconnaissance Office, Starshield satellites are believed to be among 13 launches supporting its “Multi-Phenomenology Proliferated Architecture” satellite constellation. In April 2024, Reuters reported that Northrop Grumman “is providing sensors for some of SpaceX’s satellites.”
In 2025, SpaceX plans to launch two missions, Starlink 13-1 and Starlink 13-4, which will reportedly also include two Starshield satellites each, similar to the upcoming Starlink 17-43 mission. Those satellites, which are logged by the US Space Force as USA 485, 486, 549, and 550, are not publicly associated with a specific part of the US government.
