SpaceX launched the classified NROL-97 mission from Florida on a Falcon Heavy rocket. It was the heavy-lift vehicle’s first flight for the US National Reconnaissance Office. Two side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral after liftoff, while the central booster was not recovered. Details of the payload and destination orbit remain undisclosed, so the public account establishes the launch rather than the spacecraft’s later operations.
SpaceX launched the classified NROL-97 mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 1 local time. This was Falcon Heavy’s first mission for the US National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that operates the country’s reconnaissance satellites. The flight used the company’s heavy-lift rocket rather than the Falcon 9 alone. The identity of the payload and its destination orbit remain undisclosed in the public account of the mission.[1], [2]
The rocket’s two side boosters landed at Cape Canaveral less than eight minutes after liftoff. The central booster was not recovered. At the National Reconnaissance Office’s request, the launch webcast ended shortly after the side boosters came back to Earth. That left the later stages of the classified mission outside the public broadcast, while the launch and the return of the two side boosters remained visible milestones.[1]
Falcon Heavy combines three modified Falcon 9 first stages, linked together to form the heavy-lift vehicle. The rocket first flew in 2018, and NROL-97 was its fourteenth flight. This mission adds the National Reconnaissance Office to the rocket’s flight history.[1]
