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VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, California — A satellite classified for the US National Reconnaissance Office was launched from California on Sunday.
The NROL-85 satellite took off at 06:13 am from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Vandenberg said in a statement that this is the NRO’s first mission to reuse a SpaceX rocket booster.
The first stage of the Falcon flew back and landed at the beach base northwest of Los Angeles.
NRO has only described the NROL-85 satellite as a “critical national security payload.”
The launch was one of three awarded by the Air Force to SpaceX in 2019 for a combined fixed price of $297 million.
NRO is the government agency responsible for the development, construction, launch and maintenance of US satellites that provides intelligence data to senior policy makers, the intelligence community, and the Department of Defense.
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