It was the second Falcon 9 launch of the day, with the first having deployed 21 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
ADVERTISEMENTA SpaceX rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California late on Thursday night, carrying an undisclosed number of Starshield satellites.
The mission was conducted on behalf of the US National Reconnaissance Office, an agency that manages spy satellites and is part of the US Department of Defence.
The rocket successfully landed on the "Of Course I Still Love You" (OCISLY) droneship in the Pacific Ocean operated from the Port of Long Beach in California, about 8.5 minutes after launch.
Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket. According to SpaceX, its "reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access".
It was the second Falcon 9 launch of the day, the first sending 21 of the company's Starlink internet satellites into orbit, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
SpaceX's next launch will be the historical Polaris Dawn from Florida, where the crew involved will spend five days in orbit conducting scientific experiments and aim to perform the first commercial spacewalk.
SpaceX is an American spacecraft manufacturer headed by billionaire Elon Musk.
In March, media outlets reported that the company was developing a network of spy satellites for a US intelligence agency under a $1.8 billion (€1.6 billion) contract signed in 2021 between SpaceX and the National Reconnaissance Office.
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