SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launches Spy Satellite for Secretive NRO
Author
Message
Guest Guest
Subject: SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launches Spy Satellite for Secretive NRO Mon May 01, 2017 3:39 pm
SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launches Spy Satellite for Secretive NRO
Published on May 1, 2017 A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a classified National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite roared to life and streaked into space Monday, the first launch of a clandestine NRO payload by the California rocket builder and the company's fifth flight so far this year.
Mounted atop historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the Falcon 9's first-stage engines ignited at 7:15 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), throttled up to full thrust and pushed the rocket away from Florida's Space Coast atop a jet of flame and billowing clouds of steam.