U.S. Space Force Launches Classified Payload for NRO Aboard Minotaur Ⅳ

摘要

The U.S. Space Force on July 15 launched a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) aboard a Northrop Grumman [NOC] Minotaur Ⅳ rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0B of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Air Force said that the NROL-129 mission was the first dedicated NRO launch from the Wallops Flight Facility. Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Rose, the chief of the small launch and targets division at Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's (SMC) launch enterprise, said in a statement that additional missions with Northrop Grumman are expected, and Air Force Col. Robert Bongiovi, the director of SMC's launch enterprise, said that the launch occurred as the NROL-129 team pressed forward "to execute this important mission amidst this global [COVID-19] pandemic." The Space Force had said the launch would happen earlier, in March.