NRO and Space Force launch joint mission aboard Falcon 9
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 01, 2025

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), in collaboration with the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC), Space Launch Delta 45, and SpaceX, successfully deployed the NROL-69 mission on March 24, 2025. The launch, which occurred at 1:48 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, utilized a Falcon 9 rocket. After delivering its classified payload into orbit, the rocket's first-stage booster made a safe return to Landing Zone 1.

This launch underscores the strategic alliance between the NRO and SSC in delivering affordable and dependable access to orbit for national defense. "NRO and SSC's partnership through the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program is an important step in safeguarding our nation's interests in space," said Col. Eric Zarybnisky, director of the NRO's Office of Space Launch. "Together, we are advancing national security by ensuring the U.S. maintains resilient and cost-effective space capabilities to meet evolving threats and deliver vital intelligence."

The NROL-69 mission marks the NRO's first launch with SpaceX under the NSSL Phase 2 contract awarded in August 2020. The NSSL program, managed by SSC from its base at Los Angeles Air Force Base, is a joint procurement initiative with the NRO to maintain continuous and secure space launch access for defense missions.

Earlier missions under the Phase 1A segment of the NSSL contract included NROL-87 and NROL-85, which launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in 2022.

"The combined team of our skilled personnel plus SpaceX in partnership with the NRO thoroughly examined the flight hardware and integration elements to minimize mission risks," said Col. Jim Horne, Senior Materiel Leader of Launch Execution. "And our SSC team who operate the range systems and infrastructure was fantastic. It was our first NSSL mission this calendar year, and it hit the mark, right in the middle."

Over the past two years, the NRO has added more than 150 satellites to orbit, forming the largest and most advanced government satellite network in U.S. history. With this momentum continuing, NRO anticipates around a dozen launches in 2025 alone. NROL-69 represents its fifth launch of the year, following NROL-153, NROL-57, and two missions included in SpaceX's Transporter-12 and Transporter-13 rideshare flights.

For more than six decades, the NRO has provided critical support to U.S. intelligence, military, civil, and allied organizations through its advanced reconnaissance capabilities. Its next-generation systems aim to deliver time-sensitive intelligence data to users more efficiently than ever before.

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