SpaceX launches top-secret spy satellite for US government

SpaceX launches top-secret spy satellite for US government

It totally went under my radar.

However it would seem that SpaceX launched one of their reusable rockets into space this morning. And the payload was a NRO top secret spy satellite.

I thought they normally announced their launches. But I guess in this case it wasn't advertised so much.

And in they end they managed to land the rocket back to the cape successfully.

Looks like SpaceX will be launching more rockets for the government now.

SpaceX launched a top-secret spy satellite for the U.S. government Monday morning and then successfully landed the booster for recycling.

The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from its NASA-leased pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

It was SpaceX's first mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. No details were divulged about the newly launched NRO satellite. Instead, SpaceX focused its webcast on the successful touchdown of the first-stage booster.

Bet that pissed off boeing and lockeed.

They have being had the monopoly on US space transport for decades
, using that to overcharge and act as a giant trough for congress.

Now SpaceX have come along and undercut these MIC scam artists.

I am surprised Musk hasn't found himself dead.

Its funny when Top - Secret spy stuff, becomes main stream news!

a reply to: crazyewok

Wouldn't count on it.

Now SpaceX is a government contractor.

Would be superfluous.

Once they get a taste of guarantee money.

SpaceX becomes the New Lockheed.

It wasn't a secret. It was announced days ago. In fact, it was supposed to launch yesterday, but they put it on hold because of a sensor issue. Both yesterday and today were webcast, just as usual, but they did not show the satellite deploy for security reasons, which is understandable. They showed the launch and the first stage recovery just as usual. Both Boeing and SpaceX bid on this launch and SpaceX won in an open competition. Musk has proven they can launch for half price so the Alliance is going to have to deal with this for the future.

originally posted by: crazyewok
Bet that pissed off boeing and lockeed.

They have being had the monopoly on US space transport for decades
, using that to overcharge and act as a giant trough for congress.

Now SpaceX have come along and undercut these MIC scam artists.

I am surprised Musk hasn't found himself dead.

Elon Musk, that stinks!!

originally posted by: crazyewok
Bet that pissed off boeing and lockeed.

They have being had the monopoly on US space transport for decades
, using that to overcharge and act as a giant trough for congress.

Now SpaceX have come along and undercut these MIC scam artists.

I am surprised Musk hasn't found himself dead.

I would wager a huge bet that those same thoughts are a driving force, with at least a bit of fear lingering around amongst the other pressures. Problems I would love to own. Back to reality though for me.

From my vantage point it went up then left, towards north along the coast. Unlike the usual out over the atlantic, fwiw...

Based on the warning areas for the launch, it appears to be a new type of satellite into a new orbit.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Sheesh, very "Minutemen" Like.


Minuteman Statue, Lexington MA
"Minutemen were civilian colonists who independently organized to form well-prepared militia companies self-trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They were also known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name."

Or Louis and Clark .
Yeah... feel better with Louis and Clark

a reply to: Zaphod58

Well either way they can keep sending that direction. I just wish it was dark out still because the reentry burn no doubt would have been visible to me. What an accomplishment.

a reply to: jaynkeel

Oddly enough, the upper stage warning was for Madagascar, and it wouldn't be coming down until something like 2 1/2 orbits, instead of coming down almost immediately after separation.

a reply to: Bigburgh

I totally get that vibe.

Like they are trying out something new. And this is the trend setter.

And that hawk up there means something as well.

a reply to: grey580

I'm going with how Hawks See...

"Hawks and other birds of prey actually have 2 fovea. The fovea is the spot on the back of your eyeball where you have the highest density of rods and cones. Beneath these you have a greater number of ganglion cells and so a higher representation in the retina and eventually on the visual cortex. Hawks have both a central and a peripheral fovea."

So eyes on and everything else TOO.

Search annnd... Eyewire
blog.eyewire.org...

Those stars are interesting

I thought they put the kibosh on descriptive patches after one of the nro patches had the actual orbits depicted on it.

Then again a star is just a star

Great new earth based camera following the first stage separation and landing. Very cool video.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Thanks sir👍

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Based on the warning areas for the launch, it appears to be a new type of satellite into a new orbit.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: jaynkeel

Oddly enough, the upper stage warning was for Madagascar, and it wouldn't be coming down until something like 2 1/2 orbits, instead of coming down almost immediately after separation.

I saw an article where it said that, based on the warning areas, the orbital inclination is 50 degrees. Based on what Zaphod58 said about the upper stage separation, I wonder if the resulting orbit is the Molniya orbit, which is designed to get the maximum coverage of high latitudes.



Looks like this satellite will be spying on Russia, China, North Korea, i.e. the usual "enemies". Ironic that it was the Russians who invented this sort of orbit.

This article corroborates my ideas: www.inverse.com...

Satellite observers are speculating that, based on the rocket’s trajectory, the NRO satellite will be placed into what’s known as a Molniya orbit, a highly elliptical orbit that gives the satellite lots of dwell time at its apogee. This allows the satellite to remain over the Northern Hemisphere for a much longer period of time than a satellite in geosynchronous orbit could. The sharp orbital inclination associated with a Molniya orbit would allow SpaceX to launch the NRO payload at a lower altitude, conserving more propellant. Landing on solid ground requires more fuel than landing on a droneship, so observers suspect that their conclusions about the Molniya orbit are correct.

But they also say that "Since the Molniya orbit’s apogee is so far above Earth, it’s unlikely that the satellite is an imaging one. It’s more likely that it’s a data relay satellite, meant to bounce information from one point to another."

I wonder if any amateur astronomers got to track this spacecraft and its deployment with their telescopes.

originally posted by: grey580
SpaceX launches top-secret spy satellite for US government

It totally went under my radar.

However it would seem that SpaceX launched one of their reusable rockets into space this morning. And the payload was a NRO top secret spy satellite.

I thought they normally announced their launches. But I guess in this case it wasn't advertised so much.

And in they end they managed to land the rocket back to the cape successfully.

Looks like SpaceX will be launching more rockets for the government now.

SpaceX launched a top-secret spy satellite for the U.S. government Monday morning and then successfully landed the booster for recycling.

The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from its NASA-leased pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

It was SpaceX's first mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. No details were divulged about the newly launched NRO satellite. Instead, SpaceX focused its webcast on the successful touchdown of the first-stage booster.

So what?

Why would they not?