Live coverage: NRO, SpaceX to launch reconnaissance satellites from Vandenberg

SpaceX is preparing for a late night Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday, which will carry an undisclosed number of intelligence-gathering satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The mission, NROL-105, has a payload of satellites heading to low Earth orbit, which are believed to be Starshield, a government variant of the Starlink satellites.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 8:18 p.m. PST (11:18 p.m. EST / 0418 UTC), which is the opening of a 35-minute window.

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.

SpaceX will launch the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1100. This will be its second flight after launching the Starlink 11-30 mission on Nov. 23, 2025.

A little more than 7.5 minutes after liftoff, B1100 is set to touchdown back at Landing Zone 4, adjacent to the launch pad. If successful, this will be the 33rd landing at LZ-4 and the 560th booster landing for SpaceX to date.

The NRO began deploying its fleet of satellites in May 2024 and launched a total of 11 times on Falcon 9 rockets, procuring the launches outside of the framework of the National Security Space Launch contract.

Its stated goal is to establish “the largest government constellation in history” consisting of hundreds of satellites with launches planned through 2029. There are roughly half a dozen missions planned for 2026, including NROL-105.

“The NRO’s proliferated system will increase timeliness of access, diversify communications pathways, and enhance resilience,” the NRO said in its prelaunch press kit. “It will provide greater revisit rates and increased coverage, and eliminate single points of failure. With hundreds of small satellites on orbit, data will be delivered in minutes or even seconds. This will ensure the analysts, warfighters, and civil agencies NRO serves receive actionable information faster than ever before.”