SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched a secret payload in space on Monday as part of a classified mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
The NROL-69 mission lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:48 p.m., with the Falcon rocket hitting supersonic speeds as it soared into the sky.
A few minutes into the flight, the rocket sent its classified payload hurtling into space, with the deployment kept off screen for security reasons.
The NRO — a federal intelligence agency that operates recon satellites — partnered US Space Force Space Systems Command for the mission, which is flying under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
After successfully deploying the payload for the NRO, the Falcon rocket triggered a sonic boom as it sped its way to Canaveral’s Landing Zone 1, where it was able to land safely for future use.
The entire mission took less than nine minutes to complete.
NROL-69 is one of two missions awarded to Elon Musk’s SpaceX in 2021 in a $160 million deal. The mission was originally scheduled to launch by the fall of 2023 but was delayed.
The NRO designed, built and will operate the covert payload — which is adorned with an origami hummingbird emblem with the Latin phrase Numquan Hibernare, or “never hibernate.”
“The Hummingbird illustrates the speed and agility with which we provide an advantage to the nation and its allies,” the agency said in a press release. “Our bird is ever vigilant.”
NRO has previously contracted SpaceX for two other missions.
SpaceX has been contracted to fly one more mission for the agency while United Launch Alliance, another spacecraft engineering company, has been contracted for six flights, according to the Sentinel.
The NRO has launched more than 150 satellites into Earth’s orbit in the last two years “creating the largest and most capable government constellation on orbit in our nation’s history,” the agency said.
A dozen have been scheduled for 2025, including four that have successfully launched.
Monday’s flight was the second for the first-stage booster, which was previously used as part of a Starlink mission, according to SpaceX.
The launch comes just days after NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams successfully splashed down off the Florida coast in a SpaceX capsule after more than nine months stranded on the International Space Station.