The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will take off from the Florida Space Coast on Thursday with secret cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office fee, breaking the standard practice for achieving a commercial launch, outside of the government’s established contract plans.
The NRO, which owns the US government’s spy satellite fleet, has not released any details about the payload awaiting launch on the Falcon 9 rocket. But an NRO spokesman confirmed that the agency receives launch services for the mission designated NROL-108 for the mission, without having to go through the U.S. Space Force’s National Security Space Launch Program.
An NRO spokesman said in a written response to questions that the NRO uses a variety of methods to obtain launch services to support the agency’s overhead reconnaissance mission, including in partnership with the U.S. Space Force under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. Now from the spacelight.
“In some cases, NRO satellites use alternative methods to obtain launch services after a cumulative assessment of risk tolerance, required launch date, available launch capabilities and cost – with the aim of ensuring that the satellites are delivered safely into orbit. In a timely manner, ”the spokesperson said.
The mission is being prepared for the liftoff from the Pad 39 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center as the launch window opens at 3 a.m. EST (1400 GMT) on Thursday. Following the NROL-76 mission in 2017, it will be SpaceX’s second dedicated launch for the National Reconnaissance Office fee.
In the second break of normal practice, NROL-108 will begin the mission, without test-firing the Falcon 9 rocket on the SpaceX launch pad. SpaceX has recently abandoned its traditional test-firing for launches carrying the company’s own satellites.
Two payloads launched on the rocket lab’s electron booster from New Zealand, one mission on the Northrop Grumman Minator 4 rocket from Virginia and two missions on the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 and Delta 4 will mark the sixth launch of the 2020 NRO on Thursday. Heavy rockets in November and December 10.
The NRO launched launch services from the agency’s Rapid Acquisition of Small Rockets, or RASR, for the purpose of obtaining fast rides for small NRO missions on new rocket-to-commercial launchers. The Minotaur 4 mission was coordinated by the Army’s Orbital / Suborbital Program-3 Procurement Vehicle, and was part of the ULA Flight Space Force’s NSSL program for the NRO.
The National Security Space Launch program is used for the government’s most complex military and intelligence-gathering satellites.
The NRO booked SpaceX for the NROL-108 launch on a commercial basis, reserving the flight as a way to purchase a private satellite operator operator ride on SpaceX’s manifesto. The cost is usually lower than the US government’s launch agreement, which comes with additional oversight and other additional costs.
SpaceX’s previously dedicated NRO mission – NROL-76 in 2017 – was also part of a commercial launch service arranged between the spy satellite agency and Ball Aerospace, a Boulder-based satellite manufacturer based in Colorado. Ball Aerospace booked the launch with SpaceX on behalf of the NRO, and handed over the classified payload to the NRO after being safely in orbit.
“The NROL-1 carries a national security payload designed, built and operated by the National Reconnaissance Design Fees,” the NRO spokesperson said. “Additional details about the payload and its mission are safe. The name or surname of the contractor or contractors involved in making this payload is also protected. “
In early October, the NROL-108 mission did not appear on any public launch schedule, while SpaceFlight was now the first to report the mission’s existence. At the time, the mission was scheduled for October 25, but the flight was delayed several times while changing SpaceX’s initial schedule and other NRO launch activities on Cape Canaveral.
The commercial nature of the NRO’s launch agreement with SpaceX provides regulatory oversight to the Federal Aviation Administration on the mission, as the Falcon 9 is launching a privately owned payload.
U.S. The company will launch the 38th FAA-licensed commercial space launch of the year, which will be higher than the previous figure of 33 such missions in 2018.
It is SpaceX’s 26th and 2020 final planned release, surpassing the company’s record of 21 missions in 2018.
“The future for this industry is no longer a matter of speculation, foresight and willpower,” said Wayne Monteith, FAA’s associate administrator at Space Transportation. “It simply came to our notice then. It is an increase in cadence on steroids. “
“We’ve launched more commercial space in the last four years than in the previous 15 years,” Monteith said Tuesday in a virtual presentation at the Space Foundation’s Space Symposium 365 forum. “In 2011, we had only one commercial space launch.”
“Next year, we will easily have 50 commercial launches and soon more than 100,” Monteith said. “We see mega-stars going up, and we see the beginning of an exceptionally strong space tourism sector. We see initiatives for professional off-world efforts. We have seen commercial companies that can return stuff from space. “
Retired Air Force General Monteith said government agencies could save money by purchasing a space launch service on a commercial basis.
“I believe the NRO now clearly sees what it will do using (commercial launch), where it makes sense, because it not only loads equipment needs from a staff perspective, but also costs,” Monteith said. “By going to the commercial market you can get the economy of the required standards and get a lower price for the orbit and so if you save your money there you can turn that money into part of your science, which is your payload. With NASA, we are seeing the same thing. “
“The SpaceX launch on Thursday, which we have licensed, carries the NRO payload,” Monteith said. “It simply came to our notice then. It makes sense, which is not always involved when you talk about the United States government. “
The aerospace warning notice associated with the NROL-108 launch indicates that the Falcon 9 rocket will fly north from the Florida coast. The rocket’s reusable first-stage booster will shut down its nine kerosene-fueled Merlin engines and detach the T + Plus by 2 minutes, 18 seconds, then use cold gas control thrusters to flip and start moving back to Cape Canaveral.
The boost-back burn using the rocket’s Merlin engine will begin to guide the booster back to Florida’s space coast, followed by the entry burn and the final landing burn using the first stage center engine.
Touchdown on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled at T + plus 8 minutes, 15 seconds.
A mission timeline published by SpaceX shows that the second phase of the Falcon 9 will ignite its single Merlin engine T + Plus in 2 minutes, 30 seconds, followed by a T + plus 2 minutes, 41 seconds payload ground with the rocket’s clamshell titers. Once the Falcon 9 reaches space, the nasal shroud will be removed when the mission’s classified cargo will unfold after the lower layers of the atmosphere, the lower layers, the upper layers.
At the request of the NRO, the second phase of the climb via SpaceX’s Thursday mission’s webcast is expected to end with the separation of the payload firing with the top secret payload of the intelligence agency under the orbit. The company’s live video stream will continue to track Booster’s return to Cape Canaveral.
The Falcon 9 booster is set to launch on Thursday – number B1059 – a mission to launch satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink internet network, and two Dragon cargo flights to and from the International Space Station under the launch of Argentina’s SOCOM 1B Earth observation. Satellite in satellite gust.
The purpose of NROL-108 remains a mystery
Marco Langbroick, a Dutch archaeologist and satellite movement expert, said the information obtained from the airspace alerts about the orbit targeted by the NROL-108 mission provided some insight into the possible purpose of the payload.
The location of the re-entry of the upper phase of the Falcon 9 on the Pacific Ocean, an eastward projection and indicates that the mission will place its cargo in orbit around 52 degrees towards the equator, according to Lehengbrook.
The Falcon 9 will reserve enough propellant to return to the landing of Cape Canaveral in its first phase, instead of targeting the Sh Fasher landing on the SpaceX drone. It suggests that the mission may be aimed at a lower orbit a few hundred miles from Earth, Langbroik wrote on his website, which was similar, but not similar to the orbit of the NROL-76 mission in 2017.
The expected orbit for the NROL-108 mission does not match the fleet of optical, radar and intelligence satellites known by the NRO, expert analysts said.
A group of hobbyist satellite trackers will try to find the NROL-108 payload after the launch. The military does not publish orbital data on U.S. national security satellites.
“It will be interesting to see what NROL-108’s orbit will look like,” Langbroick wrote. “As I commented with some launches earlier this year, the latest NRO looks like all ‘new’ type payloads that are potential experimental / mission demonstrators and which go into ‘new’ type orbit.”
He wrote, “The character of the mission is a mystery: this seems like something new again.
New blogpost:
“NROL-1 ::: Probably another mystery launch similar to NROL-76 (USA 276)?” Https://t.co/yznJKJLuVrSSC_NL pic.twitter.com/EQHZM26ykQ– Dr. Marco Langbrock (@Marco_Langbrock) December 15, 2020
Canadian Satellite Supervisor Ted Molkenz said the NROL-108 payload would repeat ground coverage every three or more days, according to Langbrock’s orbit estimates.
“Ground tracks that repeat at intervals of two to four days are a common feature of NRO satellites,” Molkaz told SpaceFlight Now. “They enable rapid reconstruction of targets, which is useful for espionage.
Molls warned that observers and analysts could obtain information about NRO satellites through orbital information, optical characteristics and radio transmission, although certain missions could remain secret.
“A lot can be thought through the analysis of orbital, optical characteristics and radio transmission, being accurate
The mission can remain secret until someone with insider knowledge leaks it to the news media.
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