Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

A 78-foot-tall Minotaur 4 rocket is poised for liftoff Wednesday from Virginia’s Eastern Shore carrying four top secret payloads into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Liftoff of the NROL-113 mission was at 8:20 p.m. PDT (11:20 p.m. EDT, 0320 UTC). The Falcon 9 was believed to be carrying the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites.

The satellite will help offset capabilities lost with the loss of Thuraya 3 in April 2024. Liftoff of the Thuraya 4-NGS mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened on Friday, Jan. 3 at 8:27 p.m. EST (0127 UTC).