The fifth Falcon 9 rocket launch of November from Vandenberg Space Force Base early Saturday also marked the fifth delivery to expand the nation’s spy satellite agency’s largest constellation.

The SpaceX rocket blasted off at 12:10 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on South Base.

The brand-new first-stage booster for this mission successfully made its first landing returning to the Of Course I Still Love You droneship positioned in the Pacific Ocean several hundred miles south of Santa Barbara County. 

On board the rocket were a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office plus 20 Starlink satellites, according to SpaceX.

Rather than one gigantic satellite, the NRO has switched to what it dubs proliferated architecture, or developing a constellation with multiple smaller spacecraft.

The NRO payload reportedly involves Starshield, a government version of the Starlink satellites.

Hours after the launch, NRO officials called the mission, dubbed NROL-126, successful.

“This mission is the fifth launch of the NRO’s proliferated architecture, showcasing the efficiency of delivery on orbit for this program,” NRO representatives said in a written statement. 

“Today’s successful mission follows the NROL-167 launch on Oct. 24, and the ongoing pace of deployment continues to diversify NRO’s operational satellite constellation.”

NRO, made up of Defense Department and intelligence community members, “develops, acquires, launches, and operates space-based assets and ground systems to see, hear, and sense threats around the world in real time.”

Created in 1961, the agency’s existence and its missions remained top secret until they were declassified in 1992. Four years later, NRO’s first publicly acknowledged launch, a Titan IV rocket, occurred from Vandenberg.

SpaceX also confirmed deployment of the 20 Starlink satellites on board the rocket.

The launch culminates a busy month for SpaceX’s West Coast team as the fifth and final liftoff of November. 

The team will immediately start prepping for the first launch of December, possibly happening as soon as Tuesday afternoon. 

It remains unknown if a livestream will be provided for that rocket’s countdown after SpaceX inexplicably skipped the webcast showing the final minutes before and the actual liftoff. 

For both the Nov. 23 and Nov. 30 missions, SpaceX has abruptly started showing video and audio of the mission several seconds after the rocket’s departure and continuing until the first-stage booster’s landing.