The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), in partnership with U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 30 and SpaceX, successfully launched the NROL-167 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Oct. 24, 2024 at 1:13 p.m. EDT.

This mission is the fourth launch of the NRO’s proliferated architecture and signifies the NRO’s increased launch frequency and delivery on orbit for this program. Beside the four proliferated space architecture missions, the NRO has had two other launched missions this year, the NROL-123 research mission aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Wallops Island, on March 21 and NROL-70 from Cape Canaveral aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV heavy rocket, Delta’s final mission. 

For more than 60 years, the NRO has successfully met the needs of its U.S. intelligence, military, civil, and allied partners. As part of NRO’s response to environments that may include Chinese and Russian anti-satellite weapons and advanced Chinese intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance  satellites, a reduction in launch costs is aiding an NRO move to a proliferated satellite set up in a variety of orbits. 

NRO’s first proliferated architecture launch on May 22nd followed demonstration satellite launches the past few years to verify cost and performance. The NRO’s next-generation systems will help ensure that the right data is delivered to the right user at the right time, faster than ever before. More than half a dozen launches supporting NRO’s proliferated architecture are planned for 2024, with additional launches expected through 2028.

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