A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 5:01 p.m. PDT (8:01 p.m.

EDT / 0001 UTC) on Thursday, October 15, carrying a classified payload for the United States Space Force on the USSF-481 mission.

In an unusual send-off, the five o'clock bugle call "Retreat" and the National Anthem sounded across the base before liftoff, and the rocket climbed into clear blue skies above California's central coast — a treat at a site frequently blanketed by fog.

The rocket flew a southerly trajectory after leaving the pad.

What makes USSF-481 interesting to launch watchers is how little is public — and how fast the missions are coming.

Spaceflight Now reports that public notices also reference the mission as "TH-2," making it the second "TH" mission launched in as many months: the first, USSF-259 or TH-1, flew on September 16.

Hazard warnings suggested the rocket headed to low Earth orbit inclined about 80 degrees from the Equator, and space.com noted the payload's destination as a polar low-Earth orbit, with the payload's nature undisclosed.

Spaceflight Now reached out to the Department of the Air Force about the mission's nature and said the article would be updated if a response arrived before launch.

SpaceX launched the mission with first-stage booster B1081, whose résumé is unusually varied for a veteran of classified work: four missions for NASA (Crew-7, CRS-29, PACE), three national security missions, two Transporter rideshares, two missions for Europe including EarthCARE, and 16 Starlink flights, per the launch preview from the Lompoc Record.

About eight and a half minutes after liftoff, B1081 landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You stationed in the Pacific. Spaceflight Now counts it as the 228th landing on that vessel and the 671st Falcon booster landing to date — figures attributed to that outlet.

Independent coverage of the mission lines up on the core facts. space.com adds that SpaceX's webcast ended just after the first stage landing, offering no further detail on the payload.

Local outlets had previewed a four-hour window opening in the late afternoon Pacific, with a backup opportunity on Friday, October 16, and warned that Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura county residents might hear sonic booms depending on weather.

According to space.com, USSF-481 was the 114th Falcon 9 mission of 2026, with more than 70 percent of the rocket's flights this year devoted to Starlink.

For fans, the story is that a single booster can now alternate between flying astronauts, science and secret military payloads — and keep coming back to the same droneship.

The payload's fate remains as classified as its contents: no details on deployment or orbit beyond the reported polar inclination were offered during the webcast, which ended shortly after the booster landing.

Spaceflight Now says it will update its coverage if the Department of the Air Force responds to its inquiry about the mission's nature.