SpaceX launches next-generation US spy satellites, 20 Starlink spacecraft from California

SpaceX launched another batch of US spy satellites early Saturday morning (November 30).

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at 3:10 a.m. EST (08:10 GMT; 12:10 a.m. local time) on Saturday. The rocket carried a number of spacecraft for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) as well as 20 SpaceX-owned Starlink broadband spacecraft.

The first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket lands on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, November 30, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX via X)

Saturday’s mission, known as NROL-126, was the fifth launch in support of the NRO’s “proliferated architecture.” All launches to date have been carried out by SpaceX.

Related: SpaceX launches next-generation US spy satellite on 100th Falcon 9 flight of the year (video, photos)

The term “proliferated architecture” describes a “new paradigm for assets that the NRO puts into orbit,” the agency that operates the country’s spy satellite fleet said in an NROL-126 mission description.

According to the NRO, these assets are “numerous, smaller satellites designed for performance and resilience.” This is a break from the traditional NRO strategy, which relied on a few highly capable but very expensive and difficult to replace eyes in the sky.

We don’t know much about the satellites with “proliferative architecture”. The activities and capabilities of NGO vehicles are usually classified. However, these new spacecraft are believed to be based on SpaceX’s Starlink satellites and equipped with some fancy, classified sensors.

As scheduled, the first stage of the Falcon 9, which launched on Saturday, returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff to land on the SpaceX drone ship “Of course I still love you” in the Pacific Ocean.

According to SpaceX’s mission description, it was the first launch and landing for this particular booster. The Starlink satellites were launched into low Earth orbit approximately 62 minutes after launch. The mission description did not specify when the NRO ship would separate from the Falcon 9 upper stage.

The first four advanced architecture missions also launched on Falcon 9 rockets this year – NROL-146 in May, NROL-186 in June, NROL-113 in September and NROL-167 in October.

NROL-167 was the 100th Falcon 9 flight in 2024, extending SpaceX’s record for most launches in a single year. The number of 2024 missions for the work rocket now stands at 118. Almost 70% of these missions were Starlink launches.

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