NROL-108 Launch Press Kit
INNOVATIVE OVERHEAD INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

1 | NROL-108 LAUNCH PRESS KIT

NROL-108

The National Reconnaissance 

Office (NRO) is proud to partner 

with SpaceX on our second 

launch aboard a Falcon 9 launch 

vehicle. The NROL-108 mission 

will launch from NASA’s Kennedy 

Space Center, Florida, and carry 

a national security payload 

designed, built and operated by 

the agency. NROL-108 supports 

NRO’s overall national security 

mission to provide intelligence 

data to the United States’ senior 

policy makers, the Intelligence 

Community and Department of 

Defense. 

NRO Mission

The National Reconnaissance Office 

(NRO) is an Intelligence Community 

element and Department of Defense 

organization responsible for developing, 

acquiring, launching and operating 

America’s reconnaissance satellites, 

as well as operating associated data 

processing facilities in support of national 

security. Using NRO data, the National 

Security Agency, National GeospatialIntelligence Agency, and other NRO mission 

partners produce intelligence products 

for the President, Congress, national 

policymakers, warfighters, and civil users. 

The NRO uses a variety of satellites to 

meet these mission needs—from small 

sats to more traditional, larger satellites. 

This approach allows the NRO to pursue 

a hybrid overhead architecture designed 

to provide global coverage against a wide 

range of intelligence requirements, carry 

out research and development efforts, and 

assist emergency and disaster relief efforts 

in the U.S. and around the world.

The NROL-108 mission patch shows a gorilla 

beating its chest in front of a green background 

with the tagline “Peace Through Strength”. 

The NRO chose this theme because gorillas 

are peaceful animals but can be fierce when 

necessary. Like the gorilla, this mission is 

constantly vigilant and ready to defend its own, 

demonstrating NRO’s commitment to protecting 

U.S. warfighters, interests, and allies.
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5.2m (17ft)

Fairing

Second

Stage

Interstage

First

Stage

Rocket & 

Launch Facts

The SpaceX Falcon 9 is a reusable, twostage rocket powered by liquid oxygen 

and rocket-grade kerosene. Falcon 9 is 

the world’s first orbital class reusable 

rocket—reusability allows SpaceX to refly 

the most expensive parts of the rocket, 

which in turn drives down the cost of 

space access. Following stage separation 

for NROL-108, SpaceX will land Falcon 

9’s first stage on Landing Zone 1 at Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The 

Falcon 9 stands at 70 m (229.6 ft) tall, 

3.7 m (12 ft) diameter, weighs 549,054 

kg (1,207,920 lb), and can lift 22,800 

kg (50,265 lb) to Low Earth Orbit and 

8,300 kg (18,300 lb) to Geosynchronous 

Transfer Orbit.

Engine

The liquid-propelled Merlin engine powers the Falcon propulsion 

system. The engine features a reliable turbopump design with a single 

shaft for the liquid oxygen pump, the fuel pump, and the turbine. 

The engine uses a gas generator cycle instead of the more complex 

staged combustion cycle. The regeneratively cooled nozzle and thrust 

chamber use a milled copper alloy liner that provides large heat flux 

margins. A pintle injector provides inherent combustion stability.

First Stage

The Falcon first stage is designed to survive atmospheric entry and 

to be recovered, handling both the rigors of the ascent portion of the 

mission and the loads of the recovery portion. Stage recoverability 

also provides a unique opportunity to examine recovered hardware 

and assess design and material selection.

Second Stage

The Falcon second-stage and Falcon Heavy side-boosters restraint, 

release, and separation systems use pneumatic devices that provide 

low-shock release and positive force separation over a comparatively 

long stroke. The pneumatic system allows for acceptance and 

functional testing of the actual flight hardware, which is not possible 

with a traditional explosives-based separation system. Graphic credit:

SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was 

founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the goal of reducing space transportation 

costs to enable the colonization of Mars. SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles, the Starlink 

satellite constellation, the Dragon cargo spacecraft, and flown humans to the International Space 

Station on the Crew Dragon Demo-2.
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Site Info

Launch Complex 39A 

NROL-108 will launch from Launch 

Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy 

Space Center (KSC), Florida. Originally 

constructed in the 1960s, LC-39A was 

the launch site for 11 Saturn V Apollo 

missions, including Apollo 11, the first 

Moon landing. The pad was also the 

launch site for 82 space shuttle missions, 

including the first shuttle launch, the 

final servicing mission for the Hubble 

Space Telescope, and the final shuttle 

mission. After the space shuttle was 

retired in 2011, NASA began the process 

of transforming KSC from a historically 

government-only launch facility into a 

multi-user spaceport for both government 

and commercial use. In 2014, SpaceX 

signed a property agreement with NASA 

for use and operation of the launch 

complex for 20 years. SpaceX has since 

modified the facility to meet its needs, 

including building a horizontal processing 

hangar at the base of the pad to perform 

final vehicle integration. The first SpaceX 

launch from the pad was the CRS-10 

mission for NASA launched on a Falcon 9 

on Feb. 19, 2017.

Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida undergoes modifications to adapt it to the 

needs of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Photo Credit: NASA
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Recent 

Successes

The combination of commercial 

capabilities, technological 

advancements, and governmentdeveloped systems provides 

opportunities to expand 

the supplier base, improve 

performance, reduce cost, 

and enhance resiliency.

-Dr. Chris Scolese, Director, National 

Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

NROL-108 will be the NRO’s sixth launch of 

2020 and will carry a national security payload 

designed, built and operated by the agency.

The NRO recently collaborated with United 

Launch Alliance (ULA), Space Force’s Space 

and Missile Systems Center, and the 45th 

Space Wing to launch the NROL-44 mission 

earlier this month on a Delta IV Heavy rocket 

from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. NRO 

collaborated with these same partners in 

November 2020 to launch our NROL-101 

mission on an Atlas V launch vehicle, also 

from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The NRO collaborated with NASA, Northrop 

Grumman, and Mid-Atlantic Regional 

Spaceport in July 2020 on our first dedicated 

launch out of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility 

in Virginia. NROL-129 carried a classified 

payload designed, built and operated by the 

NRO, and it launched aboard a Northrop 

Grumman Minotaur IV rocket.

The NRO for the first time in 2020 launched 

with Rocket Lab from the Mahia Peninsula, 

New Zealand. In January 2020, NRO 

collaborated with Rocket Lab and the New 

Zealand Space Agency to launch NROL-151, 

our first dedicated mission from New Zealand 

and our first launch under the NRO’s Rapid 

Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract, 

announced in April 2018. RASR enables NRO 

to explore new opportunities for launching 

small satellites through a streamlined, 

commercial approach. In June 2020, we again 

collaborated with Rocket Lab to launch the 

“Don’t Stop Me Now” mission, carrying three 

payloads designed, built, and operated by 

NRO, also procured under the RASR contract.

NROL-129 launches out of NASA’s Wallops 

Flight Facility, Virginia, on July 15, 2020.

Visit https://www.nro.gov/News/PressReleases/ to view the latest launch 

press releases.
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Future 

Launches

• The next NRO launch from Vandenberg 

Air Force Base will be NROL-82, currently 

indefinite on range.

• The next launch from NASA Wallops is 

scheduled for 2nd Qtr CY2021

• The next launch from New Zealand is 

scheduled for 2nd Qtr CY2021

Follow @NatReconOfc on Twitter 

and Instagram on launch day

NROL-44 pictured on a Delta IV Heavy on Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Photo credit: ULA