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Additional Media

NROL-85 Mission

SpaceX is targeting no earlier than Sunday, April 17 for Falcon 9’s launch of the NROL-85 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The instantane...

NROL-85

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Government/Top Secret

Low Earth Orbit Space Launch Complex 4E Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA Probability: 100%
B1071 - Landing Zone 4

Classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

SwGustav • April 17, 2022, 2:53 p.m.

Success confirmed


SwGustav • April 17, 2022, 1:13 p.m.

Liftoff


Jay • April 15, 2022, 10:14 p.m.

Delayed by a day due to weather


SwGustav • April 15, 2022, 3:55 a.m.

Delayed by a day


SwGustav • April 14, 2022, 10:56 p.m.

Weather 70%


Falcon 9

Family:
Configuration: Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    70.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    549.0 T
  • Thrust
    7607.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon 9
  • Family
  • Variant
    Block 5
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Falcon 9 Block 5
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $52000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    22800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    8300.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Booster Info


B1071

Status: Active


Type: Core
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: February 2, 2022
Last Flight: July 11, 2026
Flights: 35
Landings Attempted: 35
Landings Successful: 35
Previous B1071 Flights

Landing Information

B1071 has successfully landed back at its launch site after its second flight.

Result: Successful Return to Launch Site landing at Landing Zone 4.

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 714 Failures: 15 Pending: 129

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI
SpaceNews

SpaceX moved NROL-85 from the Cape to Vandenberg at no extra cost, in exchange for reusing booster

The NRO and SpaceX worked out a deal to move NROL-85 to the West Coast at no extra cost to the government and in exchange the NRO agreed to fly the mission on a reused first stage

Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launches and lands rocket National Reconnaissance Office mission

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with a classified payload at dawn Sunday for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency, and landed the booster stage back at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Spaceflight Now

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket vertical on Vandenberg launch pad

SpaceX raised a Falcon 9 rocket vertical Saturday at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California after a two-day delay caused by technical and weather problems. The rocket will carry a classified payload into orbit for the National Reconnais…

NASA Spaceflight

Falcon 9 launches NROL-85 mission for National Reconnaissance Office

SpaceX launched a pair of ocean surveillance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office on Sunday for the NROL-85 mission. The satellite lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:13 AM PDT (13:13 UTC). A flight-proven Falcon …

SpaceNews

SpaceX launches NROL-85 spy satellite for U.S. National Reconnaissance Office

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a U.S. National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite into orbit April 17 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E


Long March 2D
Success
13 hours, 25 minutes ago
PIESAT-2 13-16
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

4 X-band synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites for the Chinese Earth observation satellite company PIESAT.


Electron
Success
20 hours, 53 minutes ago
Owl By The Dozen (StriX Launch 12)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
2 days, 7 hours ago
Glonass-K1 No. 20 (?)
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Satellite serial number and Cosmos designation not confirmed. Glonass-K are the third generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellite n…


Kuaizhou 11
Success
2 days, 21 hours ago
SpaceTY-51 & 52
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2 Earth observation radar satellites built by the Chinese satellite manufacturer SpaceTY.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 23 hours ago
USSF-259
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

USSF-259 is a classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield …


Long March 12
Success
2 days, 23 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 25
Commercial LC-2 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
3 days, 10 hours ago
Progress MS-35 (96P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Gravity-1
Success
4 days, 2 hours ago
SpaceSail Polar Group #16
Yellow Sea (launch location 5) - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies with …


Zhuque-2E Block 2
Success
4 days, 17 hours ago
SpaceSail Polar Group #15
Launch Area 96A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

10 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies with…


Vega-C
Success
4 days, 22 hours ago
Sentinel-3C & FLEX
Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) - Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Sentinel-3C is the third satellite in the Sentinel-3 constellation, which provides high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and lan…