SpaceX to launch 7th batch of next-gen spy satellites for US government tonight

SpaceX plans to launch another batch of U.S. spy satellites from California’s central coast tonight (Jan. 9).

A Falcon 9 rocket is set to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base tonight at 10:52 p.m. EST (7:52 p.m. local California time; 0352 GMT on Jan. 11) on the NROL-153 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

SpaceX will webcast the action live via its X account, with coverage beginning about 10 minutes before launch.

NROL-153 is the seventh launch servicing the NRO’s “proliferated architecture,” which the agency has described as consisting of “numerous, smaller satellites designed for capability and resilience.”

Related: SpaceX launches next-gen US spy satellites on 100th Falcon 9 flight of the year (video, photos)

We don’t know much beyond that, as the NRO tends to be tight-lipped about its orbiting assets. However, the proliferated architecture satellites are thought to be “Starshield” craft — modified versions of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites featuring some high-tech reconnaissance gear.

The previous six proliferated architecture missions also flew on Falcon 9 rockets from Vandenberg, between May and December of last year.

If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come down for a landing on the drone ship named “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes after liftoff tonight.

It will be the 22nd launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description.

The rocket’s upper stage, meanwhile, will continue carrying its clandestine satellites to orbit. We don’t know when or where exactly they will be deployed; SpaceX’s mission description does not provide that information.