Falcon Heavy flies first NRO mission as NROL-97

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifted the classified NROL-97 payload from Kennedy Space Center LC-39A at 11:54 p.m. EDT on Oct. 1, 2026, the National Reconnaissance Office's first Falcon Heavy flight after 22 Falcon 9 missions and its first NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 launch. Spaceflight Now and NASASpaceFlight said side boosters B1072 and B1104 landed at LZ-1 and LZ-2 while new center core B1106 was expended toward a high-energy orbit. Payload identity and upper-stage deploy status were not disclosed; the flight was SpaceX's third Falcon launch of the day and, Spaceflight Now said, the first day it landed four boosters.