The US successfully launched the NROL-85 spy satellite into orbit

On April 17, SpaceX Aerospace Technology Group of the world's richest billionaire Elon Musk successfully launched one of the Falcon 9 rockets carrying the US NROL-85 spy satellite.

Specifically, SpaceX launched a secret spy satellite of the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and landed the rocket back to Earth on April 17 (local time).

A Falcon 9 two-stage rocket carrying the NROL-85 spacecraft took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California (USA) at about 9:13 a.m. on the same day.

SpaceX said: 'The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched the NROL-87 mission in February. After the phase separation, the first stage of Falcon 9 will be returned and landed on Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California'.

The two stages of the SpaceX rocket are about 2.5 minutes apart. The first stage returned to Earth, performing a vertical landing at Vandenberg's Landing Zone 4. This stage has become the hallmark of SpaceX, in which the boosters to land are often on unmanned aerial vehicles located at sea.

The launch was streamed live by SpaceX, with coverage starting about 15 minutes before takeoff. Coverage will include the countdown ignition sequence, the rocket's takeoff, ascent and Max Q (maximum stress point on the rocket), then the separation of the first stage and Second, deploy the division and split the row.

SpaceX ended the live broadcast of the launch shortly after Falcon 9 landed at the request of the NRO, due to the top secret nature of the mission.

The NRO is an agency of the United States government that develops, builds, launches, and operates the United States' spy satellites to provide intelligence to 18 agencies, including the intelligence community and the United States. Ministry of National Defense of America.

It is known that this is the 148th launch of Falcon 9 and the 14th mission of this rocket in 2022.