Skip to main content

U.S. Space Force first launch: How to watch live

Live Broadcast: Atlas V AEHF-6

The USSF will launch a military communications satellite into space on Thursday, March 26, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. You can watch it happen live in the player embedded above during the two-hour launch window that begins at 11:57 a.m. PT. 

The satellite will be carried in a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 rocket. It will be the sixth and final spacecraft that is a part of the Lockheed Martin-built Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) series that launched between 2010 and 2019. The AEHF satellites are meant to provide protected global communications for strategic military personnel. 

ULA Atlas 5 Rocket launching NOAA's GOES S
NOAA/NASA

“In the current dynamic environment, national security is of utmost importance,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of government and commercial programs, in a statement. “We are proud to launch the first National Security Space mission for the U.S. Space Force and look forward to delivering the final AEHF asset to support our nation’s national defense and the warfighter community.”

According to Space.com, AEHF satellites orbit about 22,200 miles above the Earth in the geostationary orbit and are built to last for up to 14 years in space. 

It has been a year of firsts for the USSF since it officially became a branch of the military in December 2019 when President Donald Trump signed into law a $738 billion defense bill. In February, the USSF quietly conducted its first test launch of an unarmed nuclear-capable ballistic missile across the Pacific Ocean. The testing was reportedly not related to any real-world events and the launch was instead meant to “holistically test the systems, procedures, and airmen,” according to a press release about the launch. 

The USSF has also been busy decommissioning a 26-year-old GPS satellite to make way for newer ones. It also enlisted Gen. John Raymond as the first Chief of Space Operations. 

The main goal of the USSF is to train and equip the military to protect the U.S. and its allied interests in space.

Editors' Recommendations

Allison Matyus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…
NASA map shows where you can see a solar eclipse across the U.S.
Using observations from different NASA missions, this map shows where the Moon’s shadow will cross the U.S. during the 2023 annular solar eclipse and 2024 total solar eclipse. The map was developed by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) in collaboration with the NASA Heliophysics Activation Team (NASA HEAT), part of NASA’s Science Activation portfolio.

Some of the most fascinating astronomical events to see from Earth are solar eclipses, when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun and blocks out some or all of the sun's light. The resulting darkness during daytime is fascinating and can lead to some stunning views -- though, for safety reasons, you should never look directly at the sun and should use a tool like a pinhole camera to observe eclipses instead.

However, these eclipses happen on a rather complex schedule related to the orbit of the moon, so exactly when and where to see an eclipse can be hard to track. To help with this, NASA has created a map of the U.S. showing when and where you can see a solar eclipse in 2023 and 2024.

Read more
How to watch the SpaceX resupply launch to the ISS this week
A bright white trail is in view after the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 14, 2022, on the company’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 8:44 p.m. EDT. Dragon will deliver more than 5,800 pounds of cargo, including a variety of NASA investigations, to the space station. The spacecraft is expected to spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and return cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida.

An uncrewed SpaceX Cargo Dragon will blast off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week, carrying scientific equipment and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). This will be the 27th SpaceX mission to resupply the space station, and it will use a Falcon 9 rocket to be launched from Launch Complex 39A.

NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV

Read more
Japan’s space agency destroys own rocket just after launch
Japan's H3 rocket at the start of a failed mission in March 2023.

Proving that rocket launches aren’t as easy as SpaceX makes them look, Japanese space agency JAXA was forced to destroy one of its own rockets after it developed a fault in the early stages of flight on Tuesday, March 7.

Mission personnel had no choice but to send a self-destruct command to the new H3 rocket after the second-stage engine malfunctioned just minutes after launch.

Read more