National Reconnaissance Office

Observers spot top secret satellite launched by SpaceX earlier this month

May 24, 2017

A network of amateur skywatchers and satellite observers have located a classified spacecraft owned by the National Reconnaissance Office, a U.S. government intelligence agency, in low Earth orbit after its launch May 1 from Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Photos: SpaceX kicks off the week with Falcon 9 launch and landing

May 4, 2017

SpaceX started the week with the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida just after sunrise Monday, delivering a classified U.S. government spy satellite to orbit as the booster’s first stage returned to Cape Canaveral for a vertical landing.

SpaceX successfully boosts top secret U.S. government satellite into space

May 1, 2017

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired into space from Florida’s Atlantic coastline Monday with a clandestine payload for a U.S. government spy agency, then returned to Cape Canaveral for a pinpoint landing.

Video: Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket viewed from KSC press site

May 1, 2017

Check out a view of the Falcon 9 launch Monday from our camera at the Kennedy Space Center press site about three miles from pad 39A.

Watch spectacular video of Monday’s Falcon 9 blastoff and landing

May 1, 2017

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from the historic seaside launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday, powered a classified NRO spy satellite into space, then the launcher’s first stage descended to a vertical landing at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

SpaceX launch scrubbed in final minute of countdown

April 30, 2017

SpaceX scrubbed an attempt to launch a commercial Falcon 9 rocket Sunday less than a minute before liftoff, blaming a sensor issue on the vehicle’s first stage and pushing back the company’s first national security mission for the U.S. government at least 24 hours.

Falcon 9 flight timeline for NROL-76 mission

April 29, 2017

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday morning, but most of the launcher’s ascent into orbit will be under a news blackout at the request of the National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive U.S. government intelligence agency whose mission is riding on the rocket.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket poised for first national security flight

April 29, 2017

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is being readied for launch with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office early Sunday, the commercial launcher’s 33rd overall flight, and first dedicated to a U.S. government national security mission.

Time lapse of Falcon 9 rocket hoisted vertical at pad 39A

April 29, 2017

Watch a time lapse replay of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it was raised upright at launch pad 39A in Florida on Saturday, a day before its scheduled launch with a top secret payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.

Falcon 9 rocket rolled to launch pad with classified payload

April 29, 2017

Working overnight on Florida’s Space Coast, SpaceX technicians transferred a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket from the company’s commercial hangar a quarter-mile up the ramp to launch pad 39A early Saturday, positioning the kerosene-fueled booster for liftoff Sunday with a classified payload for the U.S. government’s National Reconnaissance Office.