National Reconnaissance Office

ULA, SpaceX split military launch contract awards

March 10, 2021

The U.S. Space Force announced Tuesday that it awarded $384 million in contracts to United Launch Alliance and SpaceX, giving each company two missions to launch military satellites in 2023.

Delta 4-Heavy rocket erected on Vandenberg launch pad

March 8, 2021

United Launch Alliance recently raised a Delta 4-Heavy rocket, one of four left in the company’s backlog, vertical on its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for liftoff with a top secret U.S. government spy satellite at the end of April.

SpaceX planning launch of two Falcon Heavy missions in summer and fall

February 15, 2021

SpaceX plans two Falcon Heavy launches this year for the U.S. Space Force in July and October, and United Launch Alliance has four national security space missions on its 2021 schedule, according to a military spokesperson.

Two payloads orbited by SpaceX’s launch of NRO mission

December 27, 2020

Tracking information released by the U.S. military indicates two government payloads rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Dec. 19 on the NROL-108 mission, a dedicated launch for the National Reconnaissance Office.

SpaceX closes out record-setting year of launches from Florida’s Space Coast

December 19, 2020

SpaceX hurled a secret cargo into space for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency Saturday, the 30th rocket launch to fly into Earth orbit from pads on Florida’s Space Coast in 2020. The Falcon 9 flight broke an annual record for missions to reach orbit from the Florida spaceport that stood for 54 years.

SpaceX scrubs Falcon 9 launch to assess second stage issue

December 17, 2020

SpaceX scrubbed a Falcon 9 launch attempt Thursday to evaluate a “slightly high” pressure reading in the rocket’s upper stage liquid oxygen tank, and officials have rescheduled the company’s final mission of the year for Saturday morning.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches NRO payload, lands booster at Cape Canaveral

December 17, 2020

SpaceX’s final Falcon 9 launch of the year carried a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. SpaceX aborted a launch attempt Thursday morning to assess a second stage sensor reading, but the Falcon 9 successfully lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT) Saturday. The rocket’s stage landed back at Cape Canaveral eight minutes later.

NRO using SpaceX’s commercial launch service for spy satellite payload

December 16, 2020

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to take off Thursday from Florida’s Space Coast with a secret cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office, which broke with standard practice to procure the launch commercially, outside of the government’s established contracting schemes.

Photos: Delta 4-Heavy rocket lights up Cape Canaveral

December 15, 2020

These photos show the fiery liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral on Dec. 10, riding three pillars of flame from its hydrogen-fueled RS-68A main engines.

Delta 4-Heavy launches U.S. spy satellite after months of delays

December 11, 2020

Running more than three months late, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket took off Thursday and carried a U.S. government spy satellite into an orbit thousands of miles above Earth in the first mission from the newly-renamed Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.