SpaceX delivers next-gen spy satellites in milestone mission

During the night of September 5th to 6th, one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets was launched. It carried a batch of next-generation spy satellites into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office's operations.

On September 6th at 7:20 PM Eastern Time, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Its mission was to deliver an entire batch of next-generation spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office.

This was the second Falcon 9 launch within a day. Another model of this rocket had carried 21 Starlink satellites into orbit. During the mission designated as NROL-113, about 8.5 minutes after launch, the Falcon landed on the autonomous ship Of Course I Still Love You, stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX claims this was the twentieth launch and landing of this particular booster. Fourteen of the flights were part of missions for the Starlink project. NROL-113 was the third launch supporting the National Reconnaissance Office's dispersed architecture, a network consisting of numerous smaller satellites. Little is known about their function in orbit—their operations are classified.

In 2024, SpaceX conducted 86 orbital missions, of which 70% were Starlink missions. Today's launches mark a return to form for SpaceX. According to space.com, there were some setbacks this summer—on July 11th, a failure during a Starlink mission launch halted further launches for about two weeks. Moreover, an unsuccessful booster landing on August 28th required a three-day pause in launches.