A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a classified NROL-192 payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) on April 12, 2025 at 8:25 a.m. EDT (1225 GMT; 5:25 a.m. PDT, local time).
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00:0010, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition, liftoff of the Falcon 9, go SpaceX, go NRL-192.
00:24Vehicle is pitching downrange.
00:25M1D propulsion is nominal.
00:44At T plus 30 seconds and counting, Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off from Slick 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
00:51Now, in case you're just joining us, this is the NRL-192 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, and we just had an on-time liftoff today at 5.25 a.m. Pacific Time.
01:01Avionics, power and telemetry nominal.
01:03Good call out there.
01:04Coming up next, the vehicle will be passing through Max-Q.
01:07Falcon 9 is supersonic.
01:10The vehicle will be passing through Max-Q, which is the point in the mission profile where the vehicle experiences the greatest amount of aerodynamic pressure as it ascends through the Earth's atmosphere.
01:17Max-Q.
01:22And there's that call out there from Max-Q.
01:24Coming up next, we'll have several events happening in a quick succession, starting with MECO, followed by stage separation and SES-1.
01:36Main engine cutoff, or MECO, is where all nine M1D engines shut down to slow the vehicle down in preparation for stage separation, which is where the first stage separates from the second stage.
01:48Following this, the MECO engine on the second stage will light, which is called out as second stage start one, or SES-1.
01:59Now this engine burn lasting...
02:01Stage two engine chill.
02:03Good call out there.
02:04This engine burn, which will last several minutes, will propel the second stage and the payload to orbit.
02:08And in addition to these major events, the fairing halves will separate about 30 seconds after SES-1.
02:14So keep an eye out for all of these events coming up in about 20 seconds from now.
02:18And as a reminder, we will not have any views of the Falcon 9 second stage or the payload at the request of our customer.
02:38And a good series of back-to-back callouts there, which began with MECO, stage separation, and SES-1.
03:03Coming up shortly, we should hear a callout for fairing separation, but as a reminder, we will not be showing it on screen.
03:11Both payload and fairing halves supporting...
03:13Fairing separation confirmed.
03:16Good call out.
03:17Both payload and fairing halves supporting today's missions are also flight-proven,
03:21with one half flying for its twelfth time and the other flying for its second time.
03:27And we'll be attempting to retrieve these fairing halves again today once they fall back to Earth with our recovery vessel, Go Beyond.
03:33We're currently at T-plus 3 minutes and 20 seconds into today's mission.
03:39Now the next major milestone coming up in about two and a half minutes from now
03:43will be the entry burn of the Falcon 9 booster as it continues on its journey towards our drone ship Of Course I Still Love You,
03:49which is currently stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
03:52Now to start the entry burn, we will relight three of the M1D engines on the booster,
03:56which is similar to pumping the brakes to slow down the vehicle as it passes back into the Earth's atmosphere.
04:01We need to slow down the vehicle to reduce re-entry forces,
04:04which then helps us recover and reuse the first stage.
04:07During the entry burn, Falcon 9 is decelerating by firing its Merlin engines,
04:33but it's still moving really fast.
04:35This causes the vehicle to fly through Merlin's exhaust gases,
04:39also known as the rocket's plume,
04:41which deposits a layer of soot on the vehicle's surface.
04:45That soot then becomes,
04:47that soot comes from the carbon-based fuel that Falcon 9 uses,
04:51which with each flight,
04:53the soot builds up a little more on the outside of the vehicle.
04:56Reusability is key to lowering the cost of spaceflight,
05:01which enables more investments in critical space infrastructure.
05:05The Falcon 9's first stage that is supporting today's mission
05:08is performing this entry burn for the 24th time today.
05:13The payloads fairing supporting today's missions were also flight-proven.
05:18Again, first one flying for its 12th time and the other for its 2nd.
05:22Now we should be hearing that call-out for the Falcon 9 first stage entry burn
05:30in just under a minute from now.
05:39And as a reminder,
05:41keep an eye out for the telemetry of the vehicle
05:43at the bottom left-hand corner of your screen,
05:45showing both the speed and altitude of the rocket.
05:52We should be hearing that call-out for the Falcon 9 first stage entry burn
06:15in just a few moments from now.
06:26Stage 1, entry burn startup.
06:28And great call-out there for entry burn startup.
06:31This burn is set to last about 20 seconds
06:33and again is slowing down the vehicle
06:34in preparation for its final burn and landing.
06:37Another good call-out there for entry burn shutdown.
06:50Coming up next will be the first stage landing burn,
06:53which will start about a minute from now.
06:57The Merlin engines on the Falcon 9 first stage
06:59are optimized for sea level
07:00and these achieve 190,000 pounds of thrust each
07:03during ascent and descent.
07:05Stage 1, FTS has saved.
07:09Good call-out there.
07:10At liftoff, Falcon 9's first stage has thrust
07:12greater than 5 747 airplanes at full power.
07:16Now the 10th engine on our rocket stack,
07:17the MBAC engine, located on the second stage,
07:20possesses a much wider nozzle
07:21and is optimized to 220,500 pounds of thrust in vacuum.
07:26Coming up in about 30 seconds,
07:33we should hear that call-out for the landing burn
07:35of the Falcon 9 first stage.
07:37This landing burn is the final...
07:39Stage 1, transonic.
07:40Another good call-out there.
07:42The landing burn is the...
07:43Stage 2, FTS has saved.
07:46And another good call-out.
07:47The landing burn is the final burn
07:49of the Falcon 9 booster,
07:50used to reduce the remaining speed of the vehicle
07:52for a gentle and precise landing on our drone ship.
08:04Stage 2 is in terminal guidance.
08:08Stage 1, landing burn.
08:10Good call-out for landing burn start.
08:12We are now waiting for Falcon 9 to land on our drone ship
08:19Of Course I Still Love You,
08:20which is stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
08:22Landing leg deploy.
08:33Stage 1, landing confirmed.
08:35And there you heard a call-out
08:37for a successful landing of our Falcon 9 rocket.
08:39This was the 24th launch and landing of the first stage.