Latest news with #NROL-145
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SpaceX launches 3 rockets from 3 pads in less than 37 hours (photos)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX continues to keep up its torrid launch pace. Elon Musk's company sent three of its Falcon 9 rockets to orbit from three different pads over the course of a day and a half. The action began on Sunday (April 20), when a Falcon 9 launched the NROL-145 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base. It was the 10th flight in service of the NRO's new "proliferated architecture" of spy satellites. Next up was SpaceX's 32nd cargo mission to the International Space Station for NASA, which launched from the agency's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida early Monday morning (April 21). Then, on Monday night, another Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is next door to KSC. That launch kicked off Bandwagon-3, a rideshare mission that lofted a spy craft for the South Korean government, a private European reentry capsule and a satellite for the weather-forecasting outfit Tomorrow Companies Inc. SpaceX highlighted the spaceflight tripleheader in a Tuesday (April 22) post on X, the social media site that Musk owns, noting that the three launches occurred in a span of about 36 hours. Related: SpaceX: Facts about Elon Musk's private spaceflight company Related stories: — SpaceX aces 3rd launch in 13 hours, sending 23 Starlink satellites to orbit (video) — SpaceX launches 30 satellites on Bandwagon-2 rideshare mission (video) — 8 ways SpaceX has transformed spaceflight Impressive as that number is, it's far from a record; last month, SpaceX launched three Falcon 9 missions during a 13-hour stretch. SpaceX has now launched 46 Falcon 9 flights in 2025. It has also conducted two test missions of its Starship megarocket, which the company is developing to help humanity settle the moon and Mars, as well as assist with other tasks.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SpaceX launches 10th batch of 'proliferated architecture' spy satellites for US government (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX lofted yet another batch of next-gen spy satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) this morning (April 20). A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California's foggy Vandenberg Space Force Base today at 8:29 a.m. EDT (1229 GMT; 5:29 a.m. local California time), on a mission the NRO called NROL-145. NROL-145 was the 10th launch in support of NRO's "proliferated architecture," a new network consisting of many cost-effective small satellites rather than a few highly capable, but expensive, ones. "Having hundreds of small satellites on orbit is invaluable to the NRO's mission," NRO Director Chris Scolese said in a press kit about the proliferated architecture network, which you can find here. "They will provide greater revisit rates, increased coverage, more timely delivery of information — and ultimately help us deliver more of what our customers need even faster," Scolese added. Everything appeared to go well today; the Falcon 9's first stage landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes after launch as planned. It was the 12th launch and touchdown for this particular booster, according to SpaceX. Related: SpaceX launches next-gen US spy satellites on 100th Falcon 9 flight of the year (video, photos) Related stories: — SpaceX: Facts about Elon Musk's private spaceflight company — SpaceX launches classified spy satellite for US military, lands rocket — SpaceX launches US spy satellite, lands rocket in flawless Easter flight SpaceX ended its livestream today just after booster landing, at the NRO's request; we got no views from the Falcon 9's upper stage or info about the payloads. That's not surprising; the NRO tends to be pretty tight-lipped about its spacecraft and their activities. But the proliferated architecture craft are believed to be modified versions of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites, with some high-tech spy gear attached. The first proliferated architecture mission launched in May 2024. All 10 of them have flown on Falcon 9 rockets from Vandenberg.
