Loudly rattling windows to provide an early morning wakeup call, the first of three National Reconnaissance Office missions planned in a week blasted off early Saturday from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The SpaceX rocket rumbled away from Santa Barbara County at 5:25 a.m., and the first-stage booster successfully touched down on the droneship about eight minutes later for its 24th launch and landing.

Departure times for rockets depend upon where the payload needs to be placed in space. 

The rocket delivered additional satellites for the nation’s spy satellite agency, which remained mum about the number of craft on board the mission dubbed NROL-192. 

NRO continues to expand its system of smaller satellites under what they have dubbed “proliferated architecture” for the agency focused on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance from the vantage point of space.

“This enhanced constellation is already shortening revisit times and increasing observational persistence; delivering enhanced coordination; and empowering faster data processing, fusion, and transmission speeds. All with greater resilience and security,” NRO Director Chris Scolese said in a video on the agency’s website.

“Most profoundly, we’re making it harder for our adversaries to hide, while reducing time to insights for our customers from minutes to seconds – strengthening national security with improved prospects for lethality, when it’s necessary,” Scolese added. 

Saturday’s launch marked the ninth of the series and the 10th from Vandenberg is expected April 19. Past launches delivered roughly 20 spacecraft per liftoff.

The NRO constellation of Starshield satellites employs the same frame or bus as the Starlink satellites.

Previously, NRO had launched humongous and costly spacecraft the size of a school bus every few years. But the new proliferated architecture provides flexibility to support the needs of those served by NRO including intelligence analysts, warfighters, policymakers, and first responders.

Future launches in support of NRO’s proliferated architecture are expected at this rapid cadence through 2029, Scolese said.

“Altogether, over the last two years, we’ve launched more than 150 satellites creating the largest and most capable government constellation on orbit in our nation’s history,” Scolese added.

NRO officials announced they also will see another rocket launch from Vandenberg, reportedly a Minotaur booster, to deliver “a separate natural security mission.” The team for that mission on the small launch vehicle is tentatively targeting Wednesday.

In addition to the satellites, NRO has invested in ground systems with an eye toward data processing, capability and security.

‘Today, we can see, hear, and sense better than any other nation on earth. Used wisely and effectively, these capabilities will help to solve some of the toughest intelligence challenges of our time – while enhancing strategy, planning, and decision making; improving lethality; and saving lives,” Scolese added. 

This was the 15th launch of 2025 from Vandenberg with all but one involving Falcon 9 rocket flights. The base also conducted a test of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.