SpaceX will launch next-generation US spy satellites and 20 Starlink spacecraft from California early November 30

SpaceX plans to launch another batch of US spy satellites early Saturday morning (November 30).

A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday during a four-hour window that opens at 3:10 a.m. EST (08:10 GMT; 12:10 a.m. local time). The rocket will carry a number of spacecraft for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) as well as 20 SpaceX-owned Starlink broadband spacecraft.

SpaceX typically livestreams its missions via X, starting five to 15 minutes before launch. However, the company’s mission description makes no mention of a webcast for this launch.

Saturday’s mission, known as NROL-126, will be the fifth launch supporting 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.

If all goes according to plan on Saturday, the Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth and land on the SpaceX drone ship about eight minutes after liftoff “Of course I still love you” in the Pacific Ocean.

According to SpaceX’s mission description, it will be the first launch and landing for this particular booster. The Starlink satellites will be placed into low Earth orbit approximately 62 minutes after launch. The mission description does not say when the NRO ship will 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 marked the 100th flight of a Falcon 9 in 2024, extending SpaceX’s record for most launches in a single year. The number of 2024 missions for the work rocket is now 118. Almost 70% of these missions were Starlink launches.

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SpaceX will launch next-generation US spy satellites and 20 Starlink spacecraft from California early November 30

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