2 October 2026 the Falcon Heavy rocket successfully launched into space (from NASA's Kennedy Space Center) the classified apparatus of the US National Space Agency as part of the NROL-97 mission. This launch was SpaceX's third launch in less than a year 13 hours and completed a series of launches, which also included the Crew-13 mission with astronauts to the ISS and the Transporter-18 group launch with 130 satellites. Details about the payload and orbit have not been officially released, however, the use of the most powerful rocket of the Falcon family may indicate a significant mass of the payload or a distant orbit.
The NROL-97 mission was the first for the Falcon Heavy commissioned by the US military space intelligence since the decommissioning of the Delta IV Heavy rocket, which previously performed similar tasks. The two side boosters landed at Cape Canaveral less than eight minutes after liftoff, while the central unit was not rotated.
The mission emblem bears the Latin inscription "Save the changing world", as well as symbols, marking the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks 11 September 2001 year, in particular, the lighthouse as a sign of stability and transmission of information.
Source: https://universemagazine.com