SpaceX to set new rocket-reuse record on March 21 launch of US spy satellites

SpaceX will set a new rocket-reuse record early Friday morning (March 21), if all goes according to plan.

A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday at 2:49 a.m. EDT (0649 GMT; 11:49 p.m. on March 20 local California time), on the NROL-57 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

This rocket’s first stage also lofted the SPHEREx space telescope and PUNCH solar probes for NASA on March 11, according to a SpaceX mission description. An on-time liftoff for NROL-57 would therefore be the booster’s second in a little over nine days, besting the previous Falcon 9 turnaround record of 14 days.

SpaceX will stream the NROL-57 launch live via X, starting about 10 minutes before liftoff.

Related: SpaceX launches 7th batch of next-gen spy satellites for US government (video, photos)

NROL-57 will be the eighth launch of the NRO’s “proliferated architecture,” which the agency describes as “a new paradigm for assets the NRO is putting on orbit.”

That paradigm features “numerous, smaller satellites designed for capability and resilience,” NRO officials wrote in an NROL-57 mission description.

That description is brief and vague, which isn’t surprising; the NRO operates the United States’ fleet of spy satellites, whose capabilities and activities tend to be classified. But the “proliferated architecture” network is thought to consist of “Starshield” satellites — versions of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband craft that have been modified to perform reconnaissance work.

The seven previous “proliferated architecture” missions also launched from Vandenberg on Falcon 9 rockets, between May 2024 and January of this year.

If all goes according to plan on Friday morning, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth for a landing at Vandenberg about 7.5 minutes after launch. It will be the fourth mission for this particular booster, according to SpaceX’s mission description.

The rocket’s upper stage will continue carrying the NROL-57 payloads to orbit. The mission description does not specify where or when they will be deployed.

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, “Out There,” was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.