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NROL 39 Vector Logo
This is a list of NRO Launch (NROL) designations, i.e. satellites operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office. Those missions are generally classified, so that their exact purposes and orbital elements are not published. However, amateur astronomers have managed to observe most of the satellites, and leaked information has led to the identification of many of the payloads. Launch statistics Launch vehicle families Launch sites Launch history See also * List of USA satellites References External links National Security Space Launch Report (pages 112) {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Nro Satellites National Reconnaissance Office satellites, * NRO NRO may stand for: * National Reconciliation Ordinance, a Pakistani law * National Reconnaissance Office, maintains United States reconnaissance * National Repertory Orchestra, in Colorado * ''National Review Online'', web version of the magazine ... Secret space vehicles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Reconnaissance Office
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. federal government, and provides satellite intelligence to several government agencies, particularly signals intelligence (SIGINT) to the NSA, imagery intelligence (IMINT) to the NGA, and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) to the DIA. NRO is considered, along with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), to be one of the "big five" U.S. intelligence agencies. The NRO is headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, south of the Washington Dulles International Airport. The Director of the NRO reports to both the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense. The NRO's federal workforce is a hybrid o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2011 In Spaceflight
The year 2011 saw a number of significant events in spaceflight, including the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle after its final flight in July 2011, and the launch of China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, in September. A total of 84 orbital launches were conducted over the course of the year, of which 78 were successful. Russia, China and the United States conducted the majority of the year's orbital launches, with 35, 19 and 18 launches respectively; 2011 marked the first year that China conducted more successful launches than the United States. Seven crewed missions were launched into orbit during 2011, carrying a total of 28 astronauts to the International Space Station. Additionally, the Zenit-3F and Long March 2F/G carrier rockets made their maiden flights in 2011, while the Delta II Heavy made its last. Overview of orbital spaceflight A total of 84 orbital launches were attempted in 2011, with 78 being reported as successful; 80 launches reached orbit. 35 la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36
Launch Complex 36 (LC-36)—formerly known as Space Launch Complex 36 (SLC-36) from 1997 to 2010—is a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Brevard County, Florida. It was used for Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launches by NASA and the U.S. Air Force from 1962 until 2005. Blue Origin has leased the launch site since 2015 in order to build a new launch site for launching the company's orbital spaceflight, orbital rockets. Orbital launches are expected to begin from LC-36 no earlier than Q4 2022, and the first launch vehicle slated to launch there is New Glenn, under development by Blue Origin since 2012. As of 2019, LC-36 is under major construction, including for a large launch pad for the launch vehicle with nearby Horizontal Integration Facility, lightning tower, water tower, and propellant tank farm for liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Historically, the complex consisted of two launch pads, SLC-36A and SLC-36B, and was the launch site for the Pioneer progra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the station is the primary launch site for the Space Force's Eastern RangeCAST 1999, p. 1-12. with three launch pads currently active (Space Launch Complexes 37B, 40, and 41). The facility is south-southeast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center on adjacent Merritt Island, with the two linked by bridges and causeways. The Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip provides a runway close to the launch complexes for military airlift aircraft delivering heavy and outsized payloads to the Cape. A number of American space exploration pioneers were launched from CCSFS, including the first U.S. Earth satellite (1958), first U.S. astronaut (1961), first U.S. astronaut in orbit (1962), first two-man U.S. spacecraft (1965), first U.S. unmanned lunar land ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2022 In Spaceflight
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2022. For the second year in a row, new records were set for the most orbital launch attempts and the most successful orbital launches in a year. Overview Exploration of the Solar System NASA continued the mission of the '' Juno'' spacecraft at Jupiter by conducting a flyby of Europa on 29 September 2022. In Mars exploration, the European Space Agency (ESA) had partnered with Roscosmos to launch the ''Rosalind Franklin'' rover using the ''Kazachok'' lander as part of ExoMars 2022. In March 2022, the launch was cancelled in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent suspension of ESA–Roscosmos cooperation on ExoMars. On 3 October 2022, the Indian Space Research Organisation released a statement that all attempts to revive their Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, had failed and officially declared it dead citing the loss of fuel and battery power to the probe's ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2021 In Spaceflight
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2021. 2021 saw several spaceflight related records being set worldwide. This includes both the most orbital launch attempts and most successful orbital launches in a year. In addition, 2021 saw records set in the number of humans in orbit at one time and the most humans in space at one time. Overview Planetary science Spacecraft from three Mars exploration programs from the United Arab Emirates, China, and the United States (Hope, Tianwen-1, and Mars 2020) arrived at Mars in February. The ''Perseverance'' rover landed on 18 February. As part of the Mars 2020 mission, the '' Ingenuity'' solar-powered drone performed the first powered aircraft flight on another planet in human history. It has a communications link with the ''Perseverance'' rover and used autonomous control during its short scripted flights. The ''Tianwen-1'' lander and ''Zhurong'' rover landed on 14 May, after conducting a geological survey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2020 In Spaceflight
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2020. Overview Exploration of the Solar System Three missions to Mars were launched in 2020, including two rovers, two orbiters, and a lander. NASA has launched the Mars 2020 mission, which includes the ''Perseverance'' rover and ''Ingenuity'' helicopter, and will cache samples for eventual return to Earth. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has launched its Tianwen-1 mission, which includes an orbiter, a lander, a small rover and a group of deployable and remote cameras; it is China's first mission to another planet using its own delivery vehicle. Finally, the United Arab Emirates, in partnership with American universities, has launched the Hope Mars Mission orbiter on a Japanese rocket. In November, China launched Chang'e 5, the first sample-return mission to the Moon since Luna 24 in 1976. Chang'e 5 used the recently developed Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket. The mission performed t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2019 In Spaceflight
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2019. Overview Lunar exploration The Chinese probe Chang'e 4 made humanity's first soft landing on the far side of the Moon on 3 January and released its Yutu 2 rover to explore the lunar surface on the far side for the first time in human history. Israel's SpaceIL, one of the participants in the expired Google Lunar X Prize, launched the first private mission to the Moon in February. The ''Beresheet'' lander from SpaceIL made the landing attempt in April, but crashed onto the Moon. India launched the delayed Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter/lander/rover in July; the orbiter reached lunar orbit in September, but the Vikram lander crashed onto the lunar surface. Exploration of the Solar System The probe New Horizons encountered the Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth on 1 January. This is the farthest object from the Sun ever to have a close encounter with a spacecraft. The Japanese asteroid exploration mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2018 In Spaceflight
This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2018. For the first time since 1990, more than 100 orbital launches were performed globally. Overview Planetary exploration The NASA InSight seismology probe was launched in May 2018 and landed on Mars in November. The Parker Solar Probe was launched to explore the Sun in August 2018, and reached its first perihelion in November, traveling faster than any prior spacecraft. On 20 October the ESA and JAXA launched BepiColombo to Mercury, on a 10-year mission featuring several flybys and eventually deploying two orbiters in 2025 for local study. The asteroid sampling mission Hayabusa2 reached its target Ryugu in June, and the similar OSIRIS-REx probe reached Bennu in December. China launched its Chang'e 4 lander/rover in December which performed the first ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon in January 2019; a communications relay was sent to the second Earth-Moon Lagrange point in May. The Google Lu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2017 In Spaceflight
Notable spaceflight activities in 2017 included the maiden flight of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (also called LVM3) on 5 June and the first suborbital test of Rocket Lab's Electron rocket, inaugurating the Mahia spaceport in New Zealand. The rocket is named for its innovative Rutherford engine which feeds propellants via battery-powered electric motors instead of the usual gas generator and turbopumps. Overview China launched its new missile-derived Kaituozhe-2 variant on 2 March. The Japanese SS-520, a suborbital sounding rocket modified for orbital flight, failed to reach orbit in January. If successful, it would have become the smallest and lightest vehicle to ever put an object in orbit. The venerable Russian Soyuz-U workhorse was retired after its 786th mission on 22 February. On 30 March, the SES-10 mission was launched with a previously flown Falcon 9 first stage, achieving a key milestone in the SpaceX reusable launch system developm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2016 In Spaceflight
Several new rockets and spaceports began operations in 2016. Overview Russia inaugurated the far-Eastern Vostochny Cosmodrome on 28 April 2016 with a traditional Soyuz-2.1a flight, before expanding it for the Angara rocket family in the following years. The Chinese Long March 7 flew its maiden flight from the new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island on 25 June, and the maiden flight of the Long March 5 took place on 3 November. Two years after its 2014 accident, the Antares rocket returned to flight on 17 October with its upgraded 230 version featuring the Russian RD-181 engine. After many failed attempts, SpaceX began landing its Falcon 9 first stages on autonomous spaceport drone ships, edging closer to their long-stated goal of developing reusable launch vehicles. The company indicated that the recovered engines and structures did not suffer significant damage. One of the landed boosters, B1021, launched in April 2016, was flown again in March 2017; t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2015 In Spaceflight
In 2015, the maiden spaceflights of the Chinese Long March 6 and Long March 11 launch vehicles took place. A total of 87 orbital launches were attempted in 2015, of which 82 were successful, one was partially successful and four were failures. The year also saw seven EVAs by ISS astronauts. The majority of the year's orbital launches were conducted by Russia, the United States and China, with 27, 20 and 19 launches respectively. Overview In February 2015, the European Space Agency's experimental lifting body spacecraft, the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, successfully conducted its first test flight. In March 2015, Ceres became the first dwarf planet to be visited by a spacecraft when Dawn entered orbit. In July 2015, New Horizons visited the Pluto- Charon system after a 9-year voyage, returning a trove of pictures and information about the former "ninth planet" (now classified as a dwarf planet). Meanwhile, the MESSENGER probe was deliberately crashed into Mercury ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
