SpaceX Achieves Rocket-Reuse Milestone along with Launch of US Spy Satellites

The Falcon 9 rocket was launched from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday at 2:49 a.m. EDT (0649 GMT; 11:49 p.m. local California time on March 20), carrying out the NROL-57 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). NROL-57 marked the 8th launch of the NRO's "proliferated architecture," which the agency also refers to as "a new paradigm for assets the NRO is putting on orbit."

According to a SpaceX mission description, the rocket's 1st stage had earlier carried the SPHEREx space telescope and PUNCH solar probes for NASA on March 11. As a result, NROL-57 then became the booster’s 2nd launch in just over nine days, setting a new Falcon 9 turnaround record and surpassed the previous one of 14 days.

The description is brief & somewhat vague, which is expected, as the NRO manages the U.S. fleet of spy satellites, whose functions and operations are often classified. Anyhow, the "proliferated architecture" network is believed to include "Starshield" satellites—modified versions of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites adapted for reconnaissance purposes.

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