SpaceX launched its third mission of the year for the United States’ spy satellite agency today (March 24), the 19th anniversary of the company’s first-ever liftoff.
A Falcon 9 rocket rose off a pad at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 1:48 p.m. EDT (1748 GMT) on the NROL-69 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
It was 19 years to the day after SpaceX’s first launch, which sent a Falcon 1 rocket skyward from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. That mission failed, as did the next two Falcon 1 flights. The rocket bounced back, acing its fourth and fifth missions in September 2008 and July 2009, respectively, before being retired in favor of the Falcon 9., which debuted in June 2010.
It’s unclear what NROL-69 is sending up. The NRO provided no information beyond a brief description of the mission’s emblem, which shows an origami-style hummingbird hovering in front of a distant wetland, along with the words “Numquan hibernare.”
“The Hummingbird illustrates the speed and agility with which we provide an advantage to the nation and its allies,” the NRO’s mission description reads. “‘Numquan hibernare’ is Latin for ‘Never hibernate.’ Our bird is ever vigilant.”
We also don’t know what orbit NROL-69 is targeting. SpaceX didn’t provide that information, and the company cut off its webcast at the NRO’s request about nine minutes after launch, following the Falcon 9 first stage’s successful touchdown back at Cape Canaveral.
It was the second liftoff and landing for this particular booster, according to SpaceX’s mission description.
Related: SpaceX launches 7th batch of next-gen spy satellites for US government (video, photos)
SpaceX has launched two other NRO missions so far in 2025 — NROL-153 in January and NROL-57 this past Friday (March 21). The company set a new rocket reuse record on NROL-57, flying the same Falcon 9 first stage for the second time in just nine days.
Both NROL-153 and NROL-57 were dedicated to building out the NRO’s “proliferated architecture,” a large constellation of relatively small, cost-effective satellites that’s designed to increase resilience, capability and responsiveness, according to the agency. That strategy is something of a departure for the NRO, which has historically relied on a small number of highly capable but expensive satellites.
The proliferated architecture spacecraft are thought to be modified versions of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, which the company produces in bulk.