Falcon Heavy Flies First Mission for U.S. Spy Satellite Agency
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from Florida on Thursday night, the first time the agency has flown on the heavy-lift vehicle. The mission, codenamed NROL-97, marked a milestone for both SpaceX and the NRO, America's spy satellite agency. The NRO has previously flown payloads on 22 Falcon 9 rockets, but had never used Falcon Heavy. The rocket consists of three Falcon 9 boosters and an upper stage, topped by a payload fairing, and
OST Staff · October 2, 2026
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from Florida on Thursday night, the first time the agency has flown on the heavy-lift vehicle. The mission, codenamed NROL-97, marked a milestone for both SpaceX and the NRO, America's spy satellite agency.
The NRO has previously flown payloads on 22 Falcon 9 rockets, but had never used Falcon Heavy. The rocket consists of three Falcon 9 boosters and an upper stage, topped by a payload fairing, and lifts off under the power of 27 Merlin 1D engines. Falcon Heavy was introduced in 2018 and made its 14th flight Thursday night.
NROL-97 blasted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 11:54 p.m. EDT, taking a north-easterly trajectory on departure from Florida's Space Coast. As with most NRO missions, little is publicly known about the nature of the flight. It was the first NRO mission to fly after being procured in 2025 through the competitive National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 contract.
The Falcon Heavy core stage, serial number B1106, was brand new and was expended on this mission. The rocket's two side boosters both flew just a month ago to launch NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. B1104 made its second flight and B1072 was on its fourth mission. Both side boosters returned to Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with thunderous sonic booms. SpaceX returned LZ-1 to service for this mission after it was replaced by LZ-40 at Space Launch Complex 40.
The NRO said the payload fairing was previously used on the NROL-95 mission in July. NROL-97 was SpaceX's third Falcon launch of the day. In addition to the Crew 13 mission, the company launched 130 payloads on the Transporter 13 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It was the first time the company has landed four boosters in a single day.
This was the first NRO payload to fly onboard a Falcon Heavy rocket, adding the agency to the vehicle's customer list for the first time.
The mission's next milestones were not specified. The payload details remain classified.