SpaceX scrubs SDA satellite launch a second time, targets Thursday

SpaceX has postponed the launch of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer A mission for a second time, giving no reason for the delay. The mission is now scheduled for 12:54 a.m. PT on Thursday, October 8, according to a launch alert (https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/local/2026/10/05/how-watch-live-spacex-scrub-vandenberg-rocket-launch/92100384007/).

The Falcon 9 was due to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying 21 Tranche 1 data transport satellites built by Northrop Grumman — the first Tranche 1 batch from the company. The first attempt on Monday, October 5, ended in a last-minute auto-abort as the rocket entered its automated startup sequence; SpaceX said on X that the “vehicle and payload are in good health” but gave no cause (https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/california/2026/10/05/spacex-scrub-vandenberg-rocket-launch-today/92100370007/). A planned Tuesday retry was also waived off, Spaceflight Now reported (https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/10/04/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-21-data-transport-satellites-for-the-space-development-agency/).

T1TL-A is the fourth production flight for the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, the Pentagon’s layered network of low-Earth-orbit satellites for secure military communications and missile tracking. The 21 new spacecraft will join 63 Tranche 1 satellites already in orbit from York Space Systems and Lockheed Martin (https://www.airandspaceforces.com/space-development-agency-northrop-grumman-launch-data-transport-satellites/).

If the Thursday attempt succeeds, it would be Vandenberg’s 67th launch of 2026 — keeping the base on track to beat its 2025 record of 71 launches.