SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 vehicle is set to launch the NROL-167 mission Thursday morning from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Liftoff is targeted for at 10:13 a.m., and if needed, a backup opportunity is available on Friday, Oct. 25 at 9:59 a.m.
In a third mission from the West Coast, the National Reconnaissance Office in partnership with U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 30 and SpaceX will send a batch of reconnaissance satellites to low-Earth orbit as part of the agency’s ongoing effort to construct a proliferated satellite constellation.
Intelligence gathered by these satellites, according to reports, provides data to several vital government agencies.
Following stage separation of the two-stage reusable booster, the first stage will return to Earth’s atmosphere and land on the Of Course I Still Love You autonomous droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
This is the 21st flight for the first stage booster supporting the mission, which previously launched NROL-113, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, and 14 Starlink missions.
A live webcast of this mission will begin approximately 10 minutes prior to liftoff at www.spacex.com and X.
Lisa André covers lifestyle and local news for Santa Ynez Valley News and Lompoc Record, editions of the Santa Maria Times.
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