{"id":10109,"date":"2024-05-21T20:58:29","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T12:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-launches-first-batch-of-satellites-for-the-nros-reconnaissance-satellite-constellation\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T20:58:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T12:58:29","slug":"spacex-launches-first-batch-of-satellites-for-the-nros-reconnaissance-satellite-constellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-launches-first-batch-of-satellites-for-the-nros-reconnaissance-satellite-constellation\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches first batch of satellites for the NRO\u2019s reconnaissance satellite constellation"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_66270\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66270\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66270\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240522-NORL-146-Streak.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240522-NORL-146-Streak.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240522-NORL-146-Streak-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66270\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Falcon 9 heads to orbit with a payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Image: SpaceX.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em><strong>Update 11:09 p.m. EDT: Adding additional information from the NRO.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) began building a constellation of unknown size with a middle-of-the-night launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission, dubbed NROL-146, featured an undisclosed number of satellites riding onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.<\/p>\n<p>Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) happened at the start of a launch window that opened 1 a.m. PDT (4 a.m. EDT, 0800 UTC).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2Vj88sXicsY\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1071 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for a 16th time. It\u2019s first two flights were for NRO missions and it also launched a pair of Transporter rideshare flights.<\/p>\n<p>A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1071 landed on the SpaceX droneship, \u2018Of Course I Still Love You.\u2019 This was the 91st recovery for OCISLY and the 310th booster landing to date for SpaceX.<\/p>\n<h4>Starshield takes flight<\/h4>\n<p>While the details of the mission are largely under wraps, the payload onboard is believed to be a batch of Starshield satellites. These are government-specific versions of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellites, which the company previously stated focus on three main areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Earth observation<\/li>\n<li>Communications<\/li>\n<li>Hosted payloads<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the lead up to the final Delta 4 Heavy launch with the NROL-70 payload, Dr. Chris Scolese, the head of the NRO, noted that agency began launching prototypes for its constellation \u201cabout five years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe recognized that we had challenges, as we\u2019ve mentioned, with Russia and China trying to deny our ability to operate in space,\u201d Scolese said in March. \u201cSo, that was one reason. The other reason we needed it is we recognized that we needed to have more persistent coverage of the Earth. So, we needed to proliferate.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66252\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66252\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66252\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_NROL-146_patch.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_NROL-146_patch.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_NROL-146_patch-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_NROL-146_patch-678x381.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_NROL-146_patch-768x432.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66252\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An illustration of the NROL-146 mission patch design. Graphic: NRO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Scolese said that involved working with commercial providers to bring down the cost. He didn\u2019t name check SpaceX in his comments, but he was responding to a question that referred to reporting about Starshield from Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>In April, Reuters was first to report that Northrop Grumman was working with SpaceX to test some of the Starshield satellites as well as to provide sensors for some of the spacecraft. The planned constellation will reportedly consist of \u201chundreds of satellites,\u201d though a more specific number hasn\u2019t been reported.<\/p>\n<p>The wire service was also first to report that SpaceX was tapped in 2021 to receive a previously undisclosed $1.8 billion contract for the NRO\u2019s new constellation. Spaceflight Now reached out to the NRO regarding the mission, but an NRO spokesperson said that the agency wouldn\u2019t discuss the companies it partners with as a matter of national policy.<\/p>\n<p>As for the mission cost, that is also unknown. The same NRO spokesperson declined to provide the contract value for the mission launch, citing \u201cprotected intelligence budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66253\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66253\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66253\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_Troy_Meink_Space_Symposium.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"583\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_Troy_Meink_Space_Symposium.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_Troy_Meink_Space_Symposium-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_Troy_Meink_Space_Symposium-678x451.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240521_Troy_Meink_Space_Symposium-768x511.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66253\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Troy Meink, NRO Principal Deputy Director, gave a keynote address at the 39th Space Symposium in Colorado. Image: NRO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During his comments at the 2024 Space Symposium in Colorado, Dr. Troy Meink, the NRO\u2019s principal deputy director, made note of the forthcoming NROL-146 launch, stating that the NRO has \u201calready launched a number of demonstrations over the last few years to verify cost and performance, but this will be the first launch of an operational system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese systems will increase timeliness of access, diversify communications pathways, and enhance our resilience,\u201d Meink said. \u201cApproximately half a dozen of these launches are planned for 2024, with additional launches expected through 2028. You\u2019ll hear more details about launch locations, dates, and times as they approach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unlike some previous NRO missions launching using the Falcon 9 rocket, this mission wasn\u2019t procured using the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 procurement contract in partnership with the U.S. Space Force\u2019s Space System Command\u2019s Assured Access to Space Team.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, an NRO spokesperson said that while they are awaiting the awards from the Phase 3 contract, they procured some additional launches outside of NSSL in order to preserve their launch cadence and the \u201cneed for tailorable mission assurance.\u201d The spokesperson noted though that NSSL will continue to be the agency\u2019s primary method of launch procurement.<\/p>\n<p>The NRO isn\u2019t the only government agency that likely called upon the use of the Starshield satellite bus. SpaceX also built some of the satellites for the Space Development Agency, part of the U.S. Space Force, which launched in 2023 as part of its Tracking Layer Tranche 0A and 0B missions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Falcon 9 heads to orbit with a payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Image: SpaceX. Update 11:09 p.m. EDT: Adding additional information from the NRO. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) began building a constellation of unknown size with a middle-of-the-night launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission, dubbed NROL-146, featured [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[479,290,1382,316,440,849],"class_list":["post-10109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-falcon-9","tag-nro","tag-nrol-146","tag-spacex","tag-starlink","tag-starshield"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}