SpaceX Falcon Heavy lofts classified NRO payload in first spy-satellite mission

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy lifted off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:54 p.m. ET on Thursday (8:54 a.m. PKT on Friday), carrying a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload on the agency’s first-ever mission aboard the heavy-lifter. (https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2026/10/01/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-today-from-cape-canaveral-nasa-kennedy-space-center-florida-what-to-know—live/92036230007/)

The mission, designated NROL-97, is the first National Reconnaissance Office payload ever entrusted to a Falcon Heavy, ending a streak of 22 consecutive NRO missions on the smaller Falcon 9. It is also the first operational flight under the Space Force’s $13.7 billion NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 contract, which governs the government’s most demanding national security launches. (http://www.techtimes.com/articles/328337/20260930/falcon-heavy-launches-first-nro-spy-satellite-opening-nearly-14b-nssl-lane-2-contract.htm)

Twin side boosters B1072 — on its fourth flight — and B1104 — on its second — separated roughly two and a half minutes after liftoff and returned to land at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, setting off sonic booms across east-central Florida. The centre core, B1106, was deliberately expended into the Atlantic, sacrificed so the heavy-lifter could devote maximum energy to pushing the classified payload toward its demanding high-altitude orbit. (https://rocketlaunch.org/mission-falcon-heavy-nrol-97)

The landing marked the first use of Landing Zone 1 since booster B1094 touched down there in August 2025 after NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission. Launch-weather odds from the 45th Weather Squadron had been raised from 60% to 80% earlier in the day.