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Update July 30, 4:45 a.m. EDT (0845 UTC): SpaceX landed its Falcon 9 booster.
A classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office headed to orbit in the predawn hours of Thursday, July 30.
The NROL-95 mission launched onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flying from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 3:10 a.m. EDT (0710 UTC).
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 70 percent chance for favorable weather during Thursday’s launch opportunity. Meteorologists said they are monitoring the possibility of interference from cloud cover and thunderstorms.
“Significant weather model ambiguity remains regarding the longevity, extent and location of remnant storms and associated cloud cover during the overnight periods, thus the threat of weather violations for the primary and secondary launch opportunities will remain higher than typical values for summer overnight launches, albeit with still a decent potential for acceptable weather,” launch weather officers wrote.
SpaceX launched the mission using the Falcon 9 booster with the tail number B1096. This was its seventh flight following the launch of NASA’s IMAP and CRS-34; Kuiper Falcon 1; NROL-77; GPS III-9; and Starlink 6-87.
Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1096 touched down at Landing Zone 2 at the Cape. This was the 18th landing at this site and the 642nd booster landing for SpaceX.
The NROL-95 mission was the third mission procured for the NRO and launched on a Falcon 9 rocket as part of the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 contract, managed by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command.
The NROL-95 task order was awarded to SpaceX in August 2024.
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