Watch the Launch

Additional Media

NROL-87 Mission

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, February 2 for Falcon 9’s launch of NROL-87 to orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base ...

NROL 87

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Mission: Government/Top Secret

Sun-Synchronous Orbit Space Launch Complex 4E Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
B1071 - Landing Zone 4

Classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

Jay • Feb. 2, 2022, 10:18 p.m.

Launch successful


Cosmic_Penguin • Feb. 2, 2022, 7:42 p.m.

New T-0


Nosu • Jan. 28, 2022, 8:01 p.m.

Updating T-0


Nosu • Jan. 28, 2022, 7:21 p.m.

Setting GO


Nosu • Jan. 27, 2022, 1:38 p.m.

Updating T-0 per latest USCG District 11 Local Notice to Mariners


Falcon 9

Family:
Configuration: Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

See Details
Specifications
  • Minimum Stage
    1
  • Max Stage
    2
  • Length
    70.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    549.0 T
  • Thrust
    7607.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon 9
  • Family
  • Variant
    Block 5
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Falcon 9 Block 5
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $52000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    22800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    8300.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Booster Info


B1071

Status: Active


Type: Core
Flight Proven: No
First Flight: February 2, 2022
Last Flight: December 21, 2024
Flights: 21
Landings Attempted: 21
Landings Successful: 21

Landing Information

B1071 has successfully landed at LZ-4 after its maiden flight.

Result: Successful Return to Launch Site landing at Landing Zone 4.

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 433 Failures: 12 Pending: 114

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI

Related News

Arstechnica

Russia wants a better look at what America’s newest spy satellite can do

Spying in space does not violate any international norms.

Arstechnica

The Falcon 9 may now be the safest rocket ever launched

The Falcon 9 also recently surpassed the space shuttle in total flights.

SpaceX launches classified satellite for U.S. National Reconnaissance Office

Teslarati

SpaceX Falcon 9 booster sticks landing, setting up future spy satellite launches

A new SpaceX Falcon 9 booster has successfully carried the National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-87 mission to space on its launch debut, opening...

SpaceX launches classified NRO satellite from Vandenberg Space Force Base

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E


Electron
Success
19 hours, 4 minutes ago
StriX Launch 6
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellites for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Falcon 9
Success
21 hours, 46 minutes ago
Bandwagon 2 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers…


Long March 3
Success
1 day, 18 hours ago
TJSW-12
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.


Ceres-1S
Success
2 days, 23 hours ago
Tianqi 33-36
Oriental Spaceport mobile launch ship - Sea Launch

4 small satellites for LEO Internet of Things (IoT) communication purposes.


KAIROS
Failure
4 days, 7 hours ago
Flight 2
Space One Launch Pad - Spaceport Kii, Japan

Second flight of the KAIROS launch vehicle. 5 satellites for testing various technologies will be on board: * TATARA-1 * PARUS-T1A * SC-Sat1…


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 10 hours ago
O3b mPower 7 & 8
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Seventh and eighth of a constellation of eleven high-throughput communications satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) built by Boeing and operated by…


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 20 hours ago
NROL-149
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Sixth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to…


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 8 hours ago
GPS III SV07 (RRT-1)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

GPS-III (Global Positioning System) is the first evolution stage of the third generation of the GPS satellites. It consists of the first ten (known a…


Long March 2D
Success
5 days, 14 hours ago
PIESAT-2 09-12
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

4 X-band synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites for the Chinese Earth observation satellite company PIESAT.


Long March 5B/YZ-2
Success
5 days, 23 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 01
101 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 10 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group…