SpaceX launches secret U.S. mission, sticks Cape landing

SpaceX launched a classified U.S. spy agency mission to orbit Monday morning, then brought the rocket’s first stage home to Cape Canaveral for a landing, possibly to fly again.

A 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 7:15 a.m., thundering northeast over the Atlantic Ocean with a National Reconnaissance Office mission labeled NROL-76.

SpaceX cut off its launch broadcast a few minutes into the flight to help preserve its secrecy, as is standard practice during such missions.

But CEO Elon Musk said the launch was a success, after nearly being grounded by strong high-altitude winds.

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"Launch and landing of the NRO spy satellite was good," he said on Twitter. "Tough call, as high altitude wind shear was at 98.6% of the theoretical load limit."

The NRO in a press release later confirmed the result of SpaceX's first dedicated mission for the agency responsible for intelligence satellites.

“Thanks to the SpaceX team for the great ride, and for the terrific teamwork and commitment they demonstrated throughout," said NRO Director Betty Sapp. "They were an integral part of our government/industry team for this mission, and proved themselves to be a great partner."

While coverage of the mission’s climb to space was brief, cameras showed spectacular footage of the 15-story Falcon booster separating from the upper stage, flipping around and firing several engines to fly back to a pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, several miles south of the launch site.

Dropping from more than 80 miles up, where cameras views showed the blackness of space curvature of Earth, the stage deployed stabilizing fins and fired several engines again to slow its descent.

Four legs kicked out from the base of the rocket, which completed a final single-engine burn before a touchdown at "Landing Zone 1" announced with flurry of sonic booms that rippled across the region.

SpaceX has now reached double-digits in rocket landings that started in late 2015, recovering the first stage of a Falcon for the 10th time — four on land and six on a barge at sea.

In March, SpaceX successfully re-launched a used booster — which SpaceX refers to as "flight proven" — for the first time for a commercial satellite mission. More re-flights are possible this year, and SpaceX has leased a Port Canaveral facility to accommodate what Musk has said will grow into a "forest of rocket boosters."

Musk believes reusable rockets are the key to drastically cutting launch costs, eventually making it possible to fulfill his vision of colonizing Mars.

Monday’s launch came on the mission's second attempt, after a sensor problem on the rocket's first stage scrubbed a first try on Sunday.

The NRO confirmed the mission — its second of five planned this year — was ordered as part of a satellite deal with Colorado-based Ball Aerospace, according SpaceflightNow.com.

That information, combined with knowledge of the Falcon 9 rocket’s performance and trajectory, prompted amateur satellite observers experienced in tracking NRO missions to speculate that the mission might be an imaging satellite, bound for a low-Earth orbit inclined 50 to 60 degrees relative to the equator.

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The NRO said its mission patch showed Lewis and Clark peering through a spyglass and holding a musket, "heading into the great unknown to discover and explore the newly purchased Louisiana Territory."

If the speculation is correct, the satellite could be a replacement or successor to one launched in 2006 that failed immediately after reaching orbit.

That mission became a controversial one when the government chose to shoot down the satellite with a Navy missile in 2008, saying it posed a risk of releasing a large amount of highly toxic fuel during an uncontrolled reentry.

The launch was SpaceX’s fifth this year, continuing its rebound from a rocket explosion last September during a launch pad test that grounded the company for the last four months of 2016.

Another Falcon 9 is being prepared to launch a commercial satellite for London-based Inmarsat from KSC as soon as May 15.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.