SuccessOrbital launch
Falcon Heavy | NROL-97
SpaceX
- Pad
- Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
- Orbit
- Unknown (N/A)
- Rocket
- Falcon Heavy
Launched Oct 1, 2026, 11:54 PM ET
Reached orbit (Unknown). Booster B1104 landed on LZ-1. Booster B1072 landed on LZ-2.
Launch Library gives this time to the minute.
STATUS
Launch Successful. The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
SCHEDULE HISTORY
Tracked since Sep 23. Launch Library has held some of these dates only roughly, so these changes are listed and not counted as moves.
- Sep 23First recorded: Q4 2026 · TBD
- Sep 24Oct 1, 2026, 11:53 PM ET · Go
- Oct 2Oct 1, 2026, 11:54 PM ET · In Flight
- Oct 2Oct 1, 2026, 11:54 PM ET · Success
MISSION
- Mission
- NROL-97
- Type
- Government/Top Secret
- Orbit
- Unknown (N/A)
Classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office.
ROCKET AND PROVIDER
- Rocket
- Falcon Heavy
- Provider
- SpaceX (commercial)
- On SpaceDew
- SpaceX
- Window
- Oct 1, 2026, 11:53 PM ET to Oct 2, 2026, 12:42 AM ET
BOOSTERS
- Core
- B1106, on its first flight. No landing attempt: this booster is expended.
- Strap-On Booster
- B1104, on its 2nd flight, 32 days after its last. Landed: Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1), return to launch site, 15 km downrange.
- Strap-On Booster
- B1072, on its 4th flight, 32 days after its last. Landed: Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2), return to launch site, 15 km downrange.
Source: Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs), record updated Oct 2, 2026, 10:51 AM ET. Times are US Eastern. Every launch SpaceDew tracks