SpaceX Has One More Mission to Carry Out Before the Year Ends

Feb, 2021 - By SMI

The National Reconnaissance Office is sending out a spy satellite with the help of SpaceX as the 6^th NRO mission in 2020.

This year SpaceX has faced success as well as failure. While it was successful at sending the first astronaut to orbit, the biggest failure they faced was the blast of the Starship.  However, the aerospace company has another mission to carry out before the year ends. For the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), SpaceX has set up a Falcon 9 to shoot a new spy satellite into space on 18th December 2020 from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The launch was about to take place on the evening of 17th December 2020, however, the mission was auto-aborted due to irregular pressure readings.

This security mission is named NROL-108 and it will be the National Reconnaissance Office’s sixth launch this year. This launch will also consist of a cryptic poster along with a slogan, of a chest-beating gorilla with the phrase "peace through strength." The rocket launch for the NRO on November 13th, 2020 featured a mysterious theme of Lord of the Rings and also consisted of an elvish script.

SpaceX is witnessing success in its launch business and is one of the most valuable private companies in the world. The Falcon 9 rockets are the keys behind this success rate, and are well known for their potency in sending satellites to orbit. Twice this year they have lifted NASA astronauts to the International Space Station and sent daily transports cargo. They have more trips planned in 2021. Since 2019, SpaceX has launched hundreds of satellites into earth's lower orbits as a part of its mission to build a constellation called The Starlink. The Starlink is designed to provide high-speed internet data from space and cover areas which are under-served by broadband services.