Falcon 9 • SDA’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first batch of the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites to low Earth orbit. A $1.8 billion contract was awarded across York Space Systems, Lockheed Martin Space and Northrop Grumman Strategic Space Systems to establish a constellation of 126 “optically-interconnected space vehicles.” The Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1093, launching for a sixth time, will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean.