SpaceX has launched a covert spy satellite for the U.S. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and successfully landed the returning rocket on Earth on Apr. 17, completing an Easter spaceflight doubleheader. According to SpaceX, a Falcon 9 rocket launched a U.S. surveillance satellite successfully from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Elon Musk's SpaceX developed the Falcon 9 to become the first orbital-class rocket capable of launching multiple missions in order to reduce costs, and SpaceX made history in 2017 by deploying the same rocket for the second time.
About 2.5 minutes later, the SpaceX rocket's two stages separated. The first stage returned to Earth eight minutes after launch, landing vertically at Vandenberg's Landing Zone 4 in what could be the ultimate Easter Sunday bunny hop. Due to the mission's secret nature, SpaceX decided to cease its live broadcast of the launch shortly after the Falcon 9 landed.
The NRO manages the U.S. spy satellite fleet. Most of these spacecraft's activities and payloads are classified, and NROL-85 is no exception; we do not really know much about the satellite or what it will do once it reaches orbit. Furthermore, as the NRO usually requests, SpaceX will most likely end the broadcast immediately after launch.
Today was SpaceX's fifth launch of 2022. The flight was the company's 143rd orbital launch and 105th booster landing overall. SpaceX frequently reuses the first stages of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets to save launch costs and increase production. However, the first stage that assisted in the launch of NROL-87 had never flown before, as evidenced by its immaculate, unblemished coat of white paint.
And more SpaceX launches are on the way. A Falcon 9 rocket, for example, is scheduled to launch a large number of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Apr. 21.
SpaceX has reused boosters and spacecraft loads of times for satellite and cargo launches, and last year it deployed reused gear for the first time on a crewed mission, marking the first time the firm had done so.
On Apr. 23, the company would also launch the NASA Crew-4 mission, which will send four professional astronauts to the orbiting lab for an extended stay. Crew-4 will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, which is located next to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
