SpaceX conducts 5th NRO launch of extended facilities on NROL-126 mission
President-elect Trump watched the launch in Texas. It happened before sunset on Tuesday.
SpaceX carried out its fifth launch of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) extended facility on Saturday from California.
The NRO said it worked with the US Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 30 and SpaceX to successfully launch the NROL-126 mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
It took place from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 3:10 am ET.
“This mission is the fifth launch of NRO’s extended structures, demonstrating the efficiency of the orbit delivery of this program,” said the NRO statement. “Today’s successful mission follows the launch of NROL-167 on October 24, and the steady pace of deployments continues to diversify NRO’s active satellite constellation.”
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying New Space India’s GSAT-20 satellite on Nov. 18, 2024. (Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto via/Getty Images)
“For more than 60 years, the NRO has successfully met the needs of its US intelligence, military, civilian and allied partners. It remains a world leader in unique intelligence, surveillance, and evaluation programs,” the statement said. “NRO’s next-generation systems will help ensure the right data is delivered to the right user at the right time, faster than ever before. About a half-dozen launches supporting the expanded NRO architecture are planned for 2024, with more launches expected in 2028. .”
In addition to NRO’s NROL-126 mission, SpaceX said the Falcon 9 rocket also carried 20 Starlink satellites into orbit.
It represents “SpaceX’s 100th successful launch from pad 4E in California,” the company founded by Elon Musk in 2002 told X.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket takes off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper probe on its way to Jupiter on Oct. 14, 2024. (Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto via/Getty Images)
SpaceX had already taken four sets of NRO satellites — built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman — into low Earth orbit in May, June, September and October, according to SpaceNews.com. Saturday’s launch marked the first time that the NROL-126 mission includes an unspecified number of government satellites, as well as 20 Starlink internet satellites.
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It was also the first flight to engage the Falcon 9’s first stage booster, which successfully landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes after launch, SpaceNews reported.
No live broadcast of the liftoff was available, according to SpaceNews, and the live feed was available just before the main engine cut off.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket takes off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper probe on its way to Jupiter. (Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“This mission furthers NRO’s ability to build and develop the largest satellite constellation for the US government in history to deliver critical information that can only be obtained from high space,” a woman’s voice was heard narrating the launch in a feed clip shared on X.
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The NRO, which designs and operates US government surveillance and intelligence satellites, is working to rapidly deploy “a new network of satellites designed to track targets on Earth in near real time,” according to SpaceNews.
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