Launching the secretive NROL-61 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thundered away from Cape Canaveral today at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237 GMT).
Credit: United Launch Alliance
See earlier NROL-61 coverage.
Our Atlas archive.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, flying with a first stage booster that was previously launched and recovered in May, lifted from Cape Canaveral at 1:18 a.m. EDT (0518 GMT) Tuesday with Indonesia’s Merah Putih communications satellite. The first stage accomplished a pinpoint landing on SpaceX’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
United Launch Alliance scrubbed the launch of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket Wednesday night less than 10 seconds before liftoff from Cape Canaveral, the second such abort suffered by this mission.. The launch of a classified National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite is expected to be delayed at least several more days as engineers assess the cause of Wednesday’s last-minute abort.
© 1999-2026 Spaceflight Now Inc
