World News Update: SpaceX launches USSF-627 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California; U.S. envoys meet Putin at the Kremlin

Launch: Falcon 9 USSF-627 (after liftoff)

Rocket

SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 / USSF-627 (U.S. Space Force)

Launch site

Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

Time (CT)

Liftoff at 10:36 p.m. CT Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026 (8:36 p.m. PT; Launch Library 2 T-0 04:36:30 UTC Nov. 12 and update "Liftoff."; SpaceX posted "Liftoff!" on X at 10:37 p.m. CT). Booster landing at about 10:45 p.m. CT (time of SpaceX's landing post on X).

Result

Launch successful. SpaceX said on X that Falcon 9's first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, and later posted that Falcon 9 launched USSF-627 to orbit. Launch Library 2 lists the launch as successful and records B1103 landing on ASDS OCISLY after its 7th flight.

Cargo

Classified national-security payload; details not released

Booster

B1103, reused, 7th flight (SpaceX; Launch Library 2). It previously launched NROL-179, SDA-T1TL-E, SDA-T1TL-A and three Starlink missions. Landed successfully on Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) in the Pacific Ocean.

Our view Another step toward Mars: a booster that has now flown and landed seven times shows reuse becoming routine, and routine reuse is what will make sending people to Mars affordable.

SpaceX posted "Liftoff!" on X at 04:37 UTC (10:37 p.m. CT) and "Falcon 9's first stage lands on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship" at 04:45 UTC (10:45 p.m. CT).

Earlier: the before-liftoff update

World news overnight

• Witkoff and Kushner arrive at the Kremlin for talks with Putin President Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived at the Kremlin on Thursday for talks with Vladimir Putin, after two days of U.S.-mediated Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi that ended with an agreement on a large prisoner exchange, AP reported. Kushner said "significant differences remain" between the two sides; the envoys are expected to travel on to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, ABC News reported. (AP, ABC News)
• Israel orders military to prepare for possible attack on Iran; Tehran warns of wider retaliation Israel's security cabinet ordered the military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran, Anadolu Agency reported. Iran's deputy armed forces chief of staff warned that U.S. bases and interests are within range of Iranian missiles and drones and that Tehran is prepared to strike targets beyond the region if attacked again. (Anadolu Agency)
• Kremlin: Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Alexander Darchiev, has died at 66 Russia's ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, died suddenly at the age of 66, the Kremlin said, Anadolu Agency reported. No cause of death was given in the report. (Anadolu Agency)

Earlier: the before-liftoff update

Earlier: the 5 PM Evening Update