SpaceX Launches Next-gen US Spy Satellites: NROL-113 Mission

A Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a batch of next-generation spy satellites belonging to the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base at 0320 UTC on Sept. 6.

About 8.5 minutes after the launch of the NROL-113 mission, Falcon 9's reusable first stage returned to Earth as expected, landing softly on the deck of the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean. This was the 20th liftoff and landing for this particular booster, according to the company's mission description. Fourteen of those flights have been for the Starlink missions.

NROL-113 was the third launch servicing the NRO's "proliferated architecture," a new network consisting of "numerous, smaller satellites designed for capability and resilience," the agency wrote in a mission description. SpaceX also launched the first two missions in the series — NROL-146 in May and NROL-186 in June.

NRO operates U.S.' fleet of spy satellites, and its missions with SpaceX are classified so the payload in Sept. 6's mission are not made public.