National Reconnaissance Office Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release #01-24

Contact: 703-808-1198 | media@nro.mil March 21, 2024

NRO Successfully Launches NROL-123 from NASA Wallops

First NRO & Rocket Lab launch from the United States 

CHANTILLY, Va. — The National Reconnaissance Office successfully launched the 

NROL-123 mission aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Rocket Lab Launch 

Complex 2 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Virginia Spaceport Authority’s MidAtlantic Regional Spaceport located on Wallops Island, Va., on March 21, 2024, at 3:25

a.m. EDT.

NROL-123 is the first Rocket Lab launch for the NRO from the United States. Rocket 

Lab previously launched four NRO missions from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia 

Peninsula, New Zealand – two in 2020 and two in 2022. 

“This launch, which is putting research missions into space, exemplifies the NRO’s 

commitment to building partnerships with private industry and academia,” said Dr. Chris 

Scolese, director of the NRO. “The knowledge gained from this research will advance 

innovation and enable the development of critical new technology.”

NROL-123 is the fifth and final launch service acquired using the NRO’s Rapid 

Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract. RASR enables the NRO to explore new 

opportunities for launching small satellites through a streamlined, commercial approach. 

The previous four NRO Rocket Lab launches from New Zealand were also acquired 

under the RASR contract. 

“The NRO is always looking for innovative ways to advance our capabilities in space and 

build agility and resilience into everything we do,” said Laura Robinson, deputy director 

of the NRO’s Office of Space Launch and mission director for NROL-123. “Our first 

Rocket Lab launch from U.S. soil offers another opportunity to put payloads into orbit 

safely and efficiently.”

Since its inception in 1961, the NRO has been at the forefront of innovation. It uses

satellites and other space-based capabilities to secure and expand America’s intelligence 

advantage. Millions of people count on the NRO to collect and deliver critical 

information that can only be obtained from the vantage point of space. The Department 

of Defense and Intelligence Community depend on NRO capabilities for national 

security, and the NRO helps civilian customers with priorities like assessing damage 

from natural disasters, predicting climate change, and helping relief agencies determine 

how and where to deliver humanitarian aid.
Additional information on upcoming launches will be available at NRO.gov/launch. 

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NRO is the leader in developing, acquiring, launching, and operating the nation’s 

intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance satellites to secure and expand America’s 

advantage in space. We are building a diversified and resilient architecture of spacecraft 

and ground systems designed to meet the challenges of a changing space environment by 

accelerating innovation and leveraging strategic partnerships, backed by a diverse and 

highly skilled workforce. At NRO, we See It, Hear It, Sense It so our nation’s warfighters 

and policymakers have decision advantage amid increasing global competition. Learn 

more at NRO.gov.