SpaceX to launch combination of NRO Starshield and Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 flight – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is preparing to launch a mission that blends national security satellites with those supporting its non-governmental Starlink satellite network.

A Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on a mission first announced by the National Reconnaissance Office as NROL-126. The spy agency billed the operation as the fifth launch of its so-called ‘proliferated architecture.’

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) is set for 12:10 a.m. PST (3:10 a.m. EST, 0810 UTC) on Saturday, Nov. 30.

This low Earth orbit constellation is believed to consist of Starshield satellites, a government-specific variant of the more public-facing Starlink satellites from SpaceX. In a twist, SpaceX said the mission will also include 20 of its Starlink satellites alongside the Starshield satellites for the NROL-126 mission.

Since Sept. 20, all the dedicated Starlink missions launching from VSFB have gone to an inclination of 53 degrees and included 20 Starlink satellites, 13 of which featured Direct to Cell capabilities.

The NROL-126 mission is set to follow the pattern laid out by the previous missions supporting the proliferated architecture: heading to an inclination of 70 degrees. However, the inclusion of 20 Starlink satellites on the flight means there likely won’t be many Starshield satellites onboard the Falcon 9 rocket, but neither the NRO nor SpaceX have weighed in on that.

The largest volume of V2 Mini Starlink satellites launched at one time from VSFB was 23 on the Starlink 11-1 mission in August 2024.

When first announcing the agency’s proliferated architecture, the NRO said there would be six supporting launches scheduled to take place by the end of 2024. Since then, they appear to have added two additional missions, NROL-153 and NROL-192, which are scheduled to launch before the end of the year.

“To stay ahead of the competition and ensure it can continue to operate in a heightened threat environment, the NRO is modernizing its architecture in space and on the ground – delivering more capability faster with increased resilience,” the NRO wrote in a prelaunch press kit. “A greater number of satellites – large and small, government and commercial, in multiple orbits – will deliver an order of magnitude more signals and images than is available today.

“The NRO continues to build and fortify the largest government constellation in history – enabled by an especially dynamic 18-month period, ending late this year, in which approximately 12 missions will have launched, putting more than 100 payloads on orbit.”

Those missions are then listed below, including the launch dates for those which have already flown:

• June 22, 2023 – NROL-68 (ULA – Delta 4 Heavy)
• Sept. 10, 2023 – NROL-107/Silentbarker (ULA – Atlas 5 551)
• March 21, 2024 – NROL-123 (Rocket Lab – Electron)
• April 9, 2024 – NROL-70 (ULA – Delta 4 Heavy)
• May 22, 2024 – NROL-146 (SpaceX – Falcon 9)
• June 28, 2024 – NROL-186 (SpaceX – Falcon 9)
• Sept. 5, 2024 – NROL-113 (SpaceX – Falcon 9)
• Oct. 24, 2024 – NROL-167 (SpaceX – Falcon 9)
• NET Nov. 30, 2024 – NROL-126 (SpaceX – Falcon 9)
• NET Dec. 2024 – NROL-149 (SpaceX – Falcon 9)
• NET Dec. 2024 – NROL-153 (SpaceX – Falcon 9)
• NET Dec. 2024 – NROL-192 (SpaceX – Falcon 9)

The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission will launch for its first mission. The tail number is believed to be B1088.

A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 first stage booster will land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. If successful, this will mark the 111th booster landing on OCISLY and the 377th booster landing to date.

Out of sight?

The announcement of the NROL-126 mission marks the second time that SpaceX published a web page for one of its Falcon 9 launches, but didn’t include a way for the public to watch it live. The peculiar situation has so far only been implemented in the two most recent Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Those who navigate to the SpaceX main page can usually scroll to an upcoming launch and see a button stating “Watch” with a hyperlink leading to another page with more mission info and a link to the livestream. However, for NROL-126, the button states “Learn More” and leads to a mission page devoid of any livestream indications.

SpaceX presented a similar situation when it came to the launch of the Starlink 9-13 mission on  Nov. 24 from VSFB.

There were no prelaunch tweets leading up to that Starlink flight and the rocket lifted off without a way for those outside of VSFB to see the beginnings of the mission. In a surprise move, nearly two minutes into the launch, SpaceX published a livestream on X, formerly Twitter, which was shared both by the company and by founder, Elon Musk.

Those interested in the mission will have to wait and see if there is a surprise livestream again or if SpaceX carries out the full mission without sharing it with the public as it happens.