Falcon Heavy • NROL-97

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). This will be the first NRO payload to fly on a Falcon Heavy rocket following 22 missions using the Falcon 9. This mission is also the first NRO payload to fly that was procured through the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 contract. The two side boosters, tail numbers B1072 and B1104, launching for a fourth and second time respectively, will target landings at Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This will be the first LZ-1 landing since it was used by B1094 in support of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission in August 2025.