SPACE FORCE BASE
INNOVATING FASTER TO STAY ABOVE ALL THREATS

1 | NROL-85 LAUNCH PRESS KIT

NRO Mission

For sixty years, the NRO has developed, acquired, launched 

and operated the satellites that are the foundation for 

America’s advantage and strength in space. Using a diversified 

and resilient architecture of spacecraft, NRO collects and 

delivers the best space-based intelligence, surveillance, and 

reconnaissance content on the planet. NRO data supports 

the National Security Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency, and other NRO mission partners to produce 

intelligence products for the President, Congress, national 

policymakers, warfighters, and civil users. The NRO’s 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.

NROL-85

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is 

proud to partner with SpaceX on our second 

launch of 2022. NROL-85 is NRO’s first 

NROL mission to reuse a SpaceX Falcon 9 

rocket booster and will be launched from 

the same rocket that launched the NROL-87 

mission. Launched only two months earlier, 

NROL-87 was the first NRO launch of a SpaceX 

Falcon 9 rocket intended to be reused for 

a future mission. The NROL-85 mission will 

launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base 

(VSFB), California, and carry a national security 

payload designed, built, and operated by NRO. In the NROL-85 patch, 

three stars represent 

guidance, protection, 

and allegiance. The cat 

represents loyalty and 

devotion shared among 

our nation and partners. 

The tiger in the cat’s 

reflection demonstrates 

that while space can be 

challenging, a determined 

attitude helps NRO 

succeed in going Above 

and Beyond to meet the 

most difficult challenges 

we face in protecting our 

nation. 

To read more about NRO 

launches and previous 

patches, visit 

www.NRO.gov/launch.
2 | NROL-85 LAUNCH PRESS KIT

INNOVATING FASTER TO STAY ABOVE ALL THREATS

Rocket & Launch Facts

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured 

by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and 

the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. This will be the 17th launch 

of the Falcon 9 rocket and the 22nd from VSFB.

Fairing

Made of a carbon composite material, the fairing protects 

satellites on their way to orbit. The fairing is jettisoned 

approximately three minutes into flight, and SpaceX continues to 

recover fairings for reuse on future missions.

First Stage

Falcon 9’s first stage incorporates nine Merlin engines and 

aluminum-lithium alloy tanks containing liquid oxygen and rocketgrade kerosene (RP-1) propellant, generating more than 1.7 

million pounds of thrust at sea level.

After separation, the fist stage will return to Landing Zone 4.

Interstage

The interstage is a composite structure that connects the first 

and second stages, and houses the pneumatic pushers that allow 

the first and second stage to separate during flight.

Grid fins: Falcon 9 is equipped with four hypersonic grid fins 

positioned at the base of the interstage. They orient the rocket 

during reentry by moving the center of pressure.

Second Stage

Powered by a single Merlin Vacuum Engine, the second stage 

delivers Falcon 9’s payload to the desired orbit. The engine ignites 

a few seconds after stage separation, and can be restarted several 

times to place multiple payloads into different orbits.

4 LANDING LEGS

First Stage Second Stage Interstage Fairing

9 MERLIN ENGINES

4 GRID FINS
3 | NROL-85 LAUNCH PRESS KIT

INNOVATING FASTER TO STAY ABOVE ALL THREATS

Site Info

VSFB is headquarters to Space Launch Delta 30. SLD 30 manages 

Department of Defense space and missile testing, and placement of 

satellites into orbit from the U.S. west coast. On Sept. 27, 2021, VSFB 

launched their 2,000th rocket into orbit 

Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E)

SLC-4E was formerly called PALC2-4 and previously used by Atlas and 

Titan rockets between 1963 and 2005. It was built for use by Atlas-Agena 

rockets, but was later rebuilt to handle Titan rockets. The designation 

SLC-4E was applied at the time of the conversion to launch Titans. SLC-4E 

is leased as a launch site for the Falcon 9 rocket, which first flew from 

VSFB on Sept. 29, 2013 following a 24-month refurbishment program, 

which had started in early 2011.

Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4)

SpaceX began a five-year lease of Launch Complex 4 West in February 

2015. The site is used as a landing pad to bring back Vertical Take Off 

Vertical Landing Return-To-Launch-Site first-stage boosters of the reusable 

Falcon 9 launch vehicle. That pad was later named by SpaceX as Landing 

Zone 4, and first used operationally for a Falcon 9 booster landing 

in 2018.
INNOVATING FASTER TO STAY ABOVE ALL THREATS

4 | NROL-85 LAUNCH PRESS KIT

Recent Success

The NRO is the best in the world at 

providing overhead intelligence, surveillance, 

and reconnaissance to more than 

a half-million government users—including 

every member of the Intelligence Community, 

two dozen domestic agencies, our nation’s 

military, lawmakers, and decision makers.

In February 2022, NRO launched the NROL-87 mission 

aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 for the first launch of 2022. The 

rocket body from NROL-87 will be used during NROL-85, 

an NRO first. NROL-85 is also the second SpaceX Falcon 9 

launch produced through the National Security Space 

Launch Contract.

Visit www.NRO.gov to view launch press releases.

NRO Mission Overview

NROL-87 launches out of VSFB, February 2022.
5 | NROL-85 LAUNCH PRESS KIT

INNOVATING FASTER TO STAY ABOVE ALL THREATS

Future Launches

NRO has a busy launch year planned for 2022, with more than a 

half-dozen launches scheduled and nearly a dozen payloads planned for 

orbit. The year kicked off with NROL-87 in February out of Vandenberg 

Space Force Base and is followed by NROL-85 using the same rocket 

booster, just two months later. Millions of people depend on the vital 

intelligence NRO capabilities provide every day. Additional information on 

upcoming launches will be made available at www.NRO.gov.

Photos courtesy of 

SpaceX and NRO

NRO/OPA [10120] ID 3.22

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