SpaceX’s NROL-113 has successfully launched, moving faster than the speed of sound reporting that everything is looking normal. The launch took place from Vandenberg. There will be no payload news at the request of the agency.

A third batch of NROL satellites was launched Thursday, September 5, at 6:14 PM – 10:14 PM PDT for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities.

This is the 20th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, and 14 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX plans Thursday launch of NROL-113 reconnaissance satellites for secret government mission

Photo previously captured for NROL-186 mission on Friday, June 28, by Satnews from SpaceX’s video stream.

A third batch of NROL satellites will be launched Thursday, September 5, at 6:14 PM – 10:14 PM PDT for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities

The forecast calls for a temperature of 83°F, broken clouds, 73% cloud cover and a wind speed of 8mph.

The satellite’s structure follows the NRO’s new concept of space architecture by using many smaller satellites to create constellations that will insure resistance from attacks.

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. federal government, and provides satellite intelligence to several government agencies, particularly signals intelligence (SIGINT) to the NSA, imagery intelligence (IMINT) to the NGA, and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) to the DIA.

GSAT