SpaceX launches 11th batch of ‘proliferated architecture’ US spy satellites (video)

SpaceX launched another batch of spy satellites for the U.S. government today (Sept. 22).

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California’s foggy Vandenberg Space Force Base today (Sept. 22) at 1:38 p.m. EDT (1738 GMT; 10:38 a.m. local California time), on a mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

That flight, called NROL-48, is the 11th dedicated to building out NRO’s “proliferated architecture,” a new network that relies on large numbers of relatively small, cost-effective reconnaissance and communications satellites rather than just a few big, expensive ones.

“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,” NRO officials said in a press kit about the proliferated architecture network, which you can find here.

“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 officials added. “They will provide greater revisit rates, increased coverage, more timely delivery of information — and ultimately help us deliver more of what our customers need even faster.”

Neither SpaceX nor the NRO provided any detail about the payloads going up on NROL-48. However, the proliferated architecture satellites are thought to be modified versions of SpaceX’s Starlink internet spacecraft, outfitted with high-tech sensors and other gear.

Everything appeared to go well on today’s flight. The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth as planned, touching down on a Vandenberg landing pad about 7.5 minutes after liftoff. It was the 18th mission for this particular booster, according to SpaceX.

The company ended its launch webcast shortly thereafter at the NRO’s request, so we didn’t get to see the payloads deploy. And SpaceX’s mission description didn’t specify exactly where and when that was supposed to happen.

All 11 proliferated architecture missions have launched atop Falcon 9 rockets from Vandenberg. The first one lifted off in May 2024, and the most recent one before today launched this past April.