VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, California, Jan 17, 2026, 00:42 PST
- Late Friday, Falcon 9 took off from Vandenberg carrying the NROL-105 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office
- About 7.5 minutes after liftoff, Booster B1100 touched down back at the California base
- Mission expands the NRO’s effort to build a bigger, more spread-out reconnaissance satellite network
SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 rocket skyward late Friday, carrying an unknown number of U.S. reconnaissance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office. The first-stage booster touched down safely back at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
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This mission is key to the NRO’s push for a “proliferated architecture” — moving away from a few large, costly satellites that risk total failure, toward a network of many smaller ones. The agency envisions a constellation of hundreds of satellites, with launches scheduled through 2029.
Friday’s launch, called NROL-105, blasted off at 8:39:51 p.m. PST (0439:51 UTC on Jan. 17) from Space Launch Complex 4E, Spaceflight Now reported. The satellites are bound for low Earth orbit, a region just a few hundred kilometers above the planet where numerous imaging and communications satellites orbit.
The Falcon 9 first stage, known as B1100, flew for the second time after lifting off on a Starlink mission back on Nov. 23, 2025, Spaceflight Now reports. It landed at Landing Zone 4 right next to the pad, marking the 33rd touchdown at that location and the 560th booster recovery for SpaceX overall.
Space.com identified NROL-105 as SpaceX’s first national security mission of 2026 and the 12th launch supporting the NRO’s expanding proliferated architecture. NRO Director Chris Scolese highlighted that shifting to large fleets of smaller satellites accelerates intelligence delivery, describing the presence of “hundreds of small satellites” in orbit as “invaluable” to their mission.
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According to Space.com, the satellites in the proliferated architecture constellation are manufactured by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. All have been deployed into orbit aboard Falcon 9 rockets launching from Vandenberg. The inaugural mission took off in May 2024, the report added.
Details on NROL-105 remained scarce, typical for NRO launches. Space.com reported that the number of satellites onboard, their deployment timing, and locations were all unclear. The webcast cut off soon after the booster touched down.
SpaceX has added the NROL-105 mission to its launches page.
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A major risk lies in the fact that the entire “proliferated” concept hinges on maintaining a steady cadence. Even a brief delay—whether from weather, range availability, or a rocket glitch—can disrupt a tightly packed schedule that depends on frequent launches to maintain coverage and short revisit times. The lack of transparency on payload specifics only complicates outside assessments of how fast capability is actually growing.
