SpaceX Falcon 9 launches NRO’s NROL-167 mission

On October 24, 2024, at 10:13 a.m. PT, SpaceX launched a new Falcon 9 rocket mission to orbit with the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO) NROL-167 mission.

The liftoff happened from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. However, there’s no information available about the classified orbit.

This was the fourth launch of the NRO’s proliferated architecture, which continues to increase launches to orbit. This new mission follows NROL-113 launched on September 5.

NRO uses these satellites for US intelligence, military, civil and allied partners. It has a unique architecture for surveillance and reconnaissance systems. The next-gen systems will allow NRO to improve data transfer at a fast speed. NRO planned more than 6 launches in 2024 and these liftoffs will continue through 2028.

Yesterday, SpaceX completed its 100th overall flight for this year while deploying Starlink satellites to orbit. The company completed these launches 2 months early compared to last year.

Prior to liftoff, SpaceX confirmed weather favorability of 90% and began propellant load. At T-0, Falcon 9 ignited its Merlin engines and lifted off from the launch pad with nominal propulsion.

After reaching Max Q, the rocket conducted hot staging and separated the booster from the payload stage. The booster returned to a droneship and landed after exhausting its final burn.

This was the 21st flight for the first stage booster, which previously launched NROL-113, Sentinel-6, Michale Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, and 14 Starlink missions.