Scheduled for (UTC) 2026-05-12, 02:13:50
Scheduled for (local) 2026-05-11, 19:13:50 (PDT)
Launch site SLC-4E Vandenberg SFB, California, USA
Booster B1097-9
Landing OCISLY
Payload NROL-172
Customer NRO
Mission success criteria Successful delivery of payload to LEO

Webcasts

Stream Link
Space Affairs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GZdQ7WLF_U
Spaceflight Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eolg3WJBf_o
NASASpaceflight none
The Launch Pad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMYjAt2aGjo
SpaceX https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2054019305378123821
The Space Devs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kamFnwLiv-w

Stats

Sourced from NextSpaceflight and r/SpaceX:

☑️ 29th launch from SLC-4E this year

☑️ 5 days, 22:14:31 turnaround for this pad

☑️ 22 days, 10:10:41 turnaround for B1097

☑️ 197th landing on OCISLY

☑️ 616th Falcon Family Booster landing, 627th Falcon recovery attempt

☑️ 55th Falcon 9 mission this year, 638th overall

☑️ 56th SpaceX mission this year, 666th overall (excluding Starship test flights)

☑️ 56th SpaceX launch this year, 675th overall (including Starship test flights)

Mission info

NROL-172 (Proliferated Architecture)

The NRO’s Proliferated Architecture is a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities. The NRO’s proliferated system will increase timeliness of access, diversify communication pathways, and enhance resilience. It will provide greater revisit rates and increased coverage, and eliminate single points of failure. With hundreds of small satellites on orbit, data will be delivered in minutes or even seconds. This will ensure the analysts, warfighters, and civil agencies NRO serves receive actionable information faster than ever before.