• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Weatherboy

Weatherboy Weather News, Maps, RADAR, Satellite, and Forecasts.

  • Local
  • Earth Science News
  • RADAR
  • Current Warnings
  • Satellite
  • Current Maps
  • Forecast Maps
  • Video

Space Force to Launch Classified Rocket from Mid Atlantic

by Weatherboy Team Meteorologist - May 17, 2021

A Minotaur 1 vehicle is prepared for launch at NASA Wallop's Pad 0B.  Image: NASA / Wallops Flight Facility
A Minotaur 1 vehicle is prepared for launch at NASA Wallop’s Pad 0B. Image: NASA / Wallops Flight Facility





The United States Space Force (USSF) will be launching a classified rocket mission from the NASA Wallops spaceport on the Virginia coast on June 15. Describing it only as a “national security payload”, the mission, NROL-111, is being lifted into space for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO.)

The NRO is a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community, a sister agency to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA.) While the NRO was created in 1960, its existence was kept classified until 1992. The NRO is the Intelligence Community element and a Department of Defense agency responsible for developing, acquiring, launching, and operating America’s intelligence satellites to meet the national security needs of the nation.




The classified payload will enter space atop a Northrop Grumman Minotaur I rocket. Derived from the Minuteman II missile, it is now used to launch small satellites for the U.S. Government.  The rocket stands roughly 63 feet tall and has a diameter of about 5 and a half feet.  It can carry objects weighing as much as 730 pounds to sun-synchronous orbit and objects up to 1,280 pounds for low-Earth orbit, the orbit likely used by NRO for this mission.

Minotaur I rockets were successfully launched from the NASA Wallops facility on June 30, 2011 and again on November 20, 2013.




The rocket launch should be visible around a wide area of the Mid Atlantic when it launches. However, with these classified missions, the specific launch time and countdown aren’t always revealed ahead of time. The Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Launch Enterprise is providing the launch services for this mission and not the more public-friendly and accessible NASA.

 

 

Primary Sidebar

Sponsored Ad

Search

Latest News

  • Severe Storm and Flash Flood Threats Persist in Mid Atlantic
  • Chantal’s Remnants Push Flood Threat to New Jersey and Pennsylvania
  • Death Toll Rises as Major Federal Disaster Declaration Signed
  • Tropical Chantal Moves Inland, Soaking Mid Atlantic
  • Tropical Storm Warnings Issued as Chantal Approaches East Coast
  • Tropical Storm Watches Issued for East Coast as Tropical Depression Forms
  • System to Impact Southeast U.S. This Weekend Says National Hurricane Center
  • Hurricane Center Says East Coast System Likely to Develop
About | Careers | Contact | Contests
Terms | Privacy | Ad Choices
Weatherboy is a (R) Registered Trademark of isarithm LLC, All Rights Reserved.
All content herein is Copyright by Isarithm LLC 1997-2022