On April 8, a U.S. Space Force weather monitoring satellite called Weather System Follow-On Microwave/WSF-M was successfully launched by a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch occurred at 7:25 a.m. Pacific Time at the Vandenberg Space Center in Vandenberg, California.

The inaugural WSF-M satellite was placed into orbit as part of the USSF-62 mission. The vehicle was developed by Ball Aerospace, which was recently acquired by BAE Systems. It is equipped with a microwave instrument to collect a variety of meteorological data, including ocean surface wind speed and direction, ice thickness, snow depth, soil moisture, and space weather.

The WSF-M satellite will operate in a low polar orbit. A second WSF-M satellite has been ordered by the Space Force and is scheduled for launch in 2028. Both satellites are part of a broad initiative to modernize military space-based environmental monitoring.

The data collected by this WSF-M satellite will be provided to meteorologists to create a variety of weather products that are necessary for planning and operations around the world, according to U.S. Space Force officials.

Approximately eight minutes after the launch and separation of the payload, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed in Landing Zone 4 at the Vandenberg Space Center.

The USSF-62 launch was the 37th by SpaceX in 2024 and the second national security space mission this year. In February, the USSF-124 mission launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying six U.S. missile defense satellites developed by the Space Development Agency/SDA and Missile Defense Agency/MDA into orbit.