New Spy Satellite Launches on Covert Mission

By Nancy Atkinson - March 11, 2011 at 8:48 PM UTC | Space Policy

A Delta IV rocket blasted off Friday evening from Cape Canaveral launch Complex-37 carrying a secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. Called NROL-27, the mission was said to be in support of national defense. This marks the fourth NRO launch accomplished by ULA since Sept. 20, 2010 and occurred just six days after the Atlas V launch of the second Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-2) -- the mini space shuttle on another secret mission.

The Delta 4 rocket is 62.5 meters (205 feet) tall and consists of one main booster with two small solid rocket boosters, and can launch payloads up to 13.5 tons into low-Earth orbit and 6.6 tons toward the higher geosynchronous orbits used by communications satellites.

The rocket is built and launched by the United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

"Congratulations to the NRO and to all the mission partners involved in this critical national security launch," said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Mission Operations. "ULA is very proud to have supported the NRO with this fourth successful launch in such a short period of time. Our launch team understands the importance these missions play in protecting our freedoms and supporting our brave men and women deployed around the world."

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com