Q&A with Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX (members only)

The U.S. Space Force says it will launch two GPS navigation satellites on reused Falcon 9 boosters next year through a restructured contract with SpaceX that saved taxpayers $52 million, the first time the military has agreed to fly operational national security payloads on previously-flown rockets.

The NROL-192 mission will the 10th to date supporting the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO) proliferated architecture satellite constellation. Liftoff from pad 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base was at 5:25 a.m. PDT (8:25 a.m. EDT, 1225 UTC) on Saturday April 12, 2025.

Set to fly in its most powerful configuration with five solid rocket boosters, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket rolled out to Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad Tuesday in preparation for a planned blastoff two days later with a U.S. military communications satellite.