SpaceX is targeting a launch for its Falcon 9 rocket carrying a classified National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 40 on Monday. The mission, scheduled to liftoff at 1:48 p.m. EDT, will mark the 25th orbital rocket launch of the year from the Space Force installation and Kennedy Space Center.
The NROL-69 mission will return to land at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, generating sonic booms upon descent. Little information is publicly available about the mission’s details, but it follows similar launches in recent weeks, including a classified NRO payload on Thursday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
According to Ronnie Foreman, SpaceX senior sales manager, this mission continues the NRO’s cutting-edge capability of building and developing the U.S. government’s largest satellite constellation in history. The National Security Space Launch contract was awarded to SpaceX in March 2021 for two classified missions, including Monday’s launch, with a total value of $159.7 million.
The National Reconnaissance Office has successfully launched over 150 satellites in recent years, creating the largest and most capable government constellation on orbit. With approximately one dozen launches scheduled for 2025, the NRO continues to be the world’s leader in unique intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems.
Source: https://eu.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2025/03/23/spacex-targets-monday-for-nro-classified-rocket-launch-from-cape-canaveral-space-force-florida/82588088007