NRO partners with SpaceX for final launch of 2020 December 21, 2020 The National Reconnaissance Agency s sixth and final mission of 2020 launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Dec. 19. (SpaceX) WASHINGTON The National Reconnaissance Office successfully completed its final launch of the year on Dec. 19, wrapping up a 2020 that saw the agency launch six missions into orbit. For NROL-108, the agency utilized a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This was NRO’s second dedicated launch with SpaceX, with the first taking place with NROL-76 in May 2017. “We are excited to partner with SpaceX again,” NRO Principal Deputy Director Troy Meink said in a statement.
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SpaceX raised a Falcon 9 rocket vertical on pad 39A Wednesday for the company’s final mission of the year. Credit: Spaceflight Now
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to take off Thursday from Florida’s Space Coast with a secret cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office, which broke with standard practice to procure the launch commercially, outside of the government’s established contracting schemes.