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SpaceX Falcon 9 booster sticks landing, setting up future spy satellite launches
Update: The NRO has confirmed that SpaceX’s NROL-87 launch was a success.
A new SpaceX Falcon 9 booster has successfully carried the National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-87 mission to space on its launch debut, opening the door for additional spy satellite launches later this year.
Unfortunately, due to the secretive nature of NRO launches, the only possible confirmation that Falcon 9’s NROL-87 launch was fully successful, will likely come from a comment from the NRO and even that isn’t guaranteed. Nonetheless, all visible aspects of the launch – and what SpaceX was able to broadcast – appeared to be nominal. Falcon 9 booster B1071 – flying for the first time – performed well and lifted off at 12:28 pm PST (20:28 UTC), separated from the upper stage around three minutes later, flipped around to boost back to the California coast, and ultimately touched down less than 1500 feet west of the launch pad a little over eight minutes after liftoff.
According to SpaceX and the NRO, B1071 had already been tentatively assigned to support two NRO missions – likely NROL-87 and NROL-85 – before its first launch. That made a successful landing even more important, which the Falcon 9 first stage thankfully completed with ease. NROL-87’s completion leaves two more (public) NRO launches on SpaceX’s launch manifest: NROL-85 and NROL-69. NROL-85 could launch as early as 2022 and, as a result, is likely the unspecified mission that’s expected to reuse B1071.
NROL-85 is believed to be a pair of Intruder signals intelligence (SIGINT) surveillance satellites primarily designed to spy on the radio communications of naval vessels. Unlike NROL-87, which hasn’t been identified and launched from SpaceX’s California pad, NROL-85 is expected to launch from one of SpaceX’s Florida pads. The US military awarded the contracts – alongside a Falcon Heavy mission – in February 2019 for $297M, likely meaning that SpaceX is launching NROL-85 and -87 for about $70-80M each. No official target date is known for NROL-85, meaning that it could feasibly launch anytime from April or May to December 2022.
Up next, SpaceX is scheduled to launch Starlink 4-7 – carrying another batch of 49 Starlink V1.5 satellites – no earlier than 1:13 pm EST (18:13 UTC), Thursday, February 3rd. Starlink 4-7 will be Falcon 9 booster B1061’s sixth launch and the mission will also mark a new reusability record for Falcon fairing halves, with one half attempting its sixth spaceflight.
Elon Musk shed two new bits of detail on Starship following its 13th test launch, which was an overwhelming success.
SpaceX launched Starship for the 13th time last Friday after two delays: one on Monday when several Raptor engines did not ignite, and another on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions in Starbase, Texas.
The launch was overwhelmingly successful. SpaceX was able to complete a necessary test of the heat shield tiles by increasing the acceleration of Starship from launch throughout the flight; 20 Starlink v3 satellites were released with no issue; the Super Heavy Booster landed safely in the Gulf of America, Ship successfully reignited engines while in space; and it also splashed down without incident in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
Nevertheless, more details are coming out about Starship, and Musk is doing the talking.
Starship Will Be Retrieved in the Ocean
Musk revealed on Tuesday night that Starship would be recovered by a ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX routinely tries to recover Starship after splashdown in an effort to find out more about the flight by examining the spacecraft afterward.
We’re sending a ship out to recover Starship https://t.co/fUqUZTITO9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2026
This helps engineers find out more about why things might have happened, allows them to examine any potential damage or anomalies that might have occurred, and increases the chances of an even more successful flight next time thanks to the additional information recovered.
Ship Could Have Been Caught by Tower Arms, Musk claims
Musk has already indicated that SpaceX will plan to attempt a catch of Starship with the 14th test flight. While this would be a major accomplishment, it would be an expected next step, considering the fact that the Super Heavy Booster has already been caught by the chopsticks on numerous occasions.
The ship landing was precise, meaning that it would have been caught by the tower arms https://t.co/6nbNrRfX9P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
A ship catch would be a great indication of where SpaceX stands in terms of reusability and launch cadence. A successful catch with relatively no incidents would be a good sign that SpaceX is nearing a more frequent launch of Starship, but also that the reusability of the massive rocket would be something many would expect in the near future.
It is a necessity to make life multiplanetary.
Elon Musk has updated his timeline for when humans will walk on Mars and for when ships will simply get there.
The objective of getting to Mars has been one of Musk’s biggest goals since becoming a serial entrepreneur and realizing that time on Earth is limited. Musk has said several times he hopes to die on Mars, and not by impact.
Musk now believes that people will be on Mars in “roughly 5 to 7 years.” He said that a Mars lander will get there “a few years sooner.”
People on Mars in roughly 5 to 7 years.
Mars lander a few years sooner.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
The response from Musk comes after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that SpaceX’s biggest priority is the Moon and not Mars. Because of this, Isaacman conceded that he believes nuclear power and propulsion investments will provide “potentially the pathway with the fewest miracles required to put four people on Mars in the next 10 to 15 years.”
Of course, this is what NASA can do through taxpayer funding and nuclear investments, he added.
Musk’s grand ambitions are much more optimistic than most, and it is certainly a double-edged sword. This is not the first time timelines for Mars have been somewhat lofty, especially to those normal thinkers like you and me, not super geniuses like Musk.
In fact, the SpaceX and Tesla frontman has said on at least a dozen occasions that we could be on Mars in the coming years. Musk said 2020 would be the big year as early as 2009. In 2020, he was “highly confident” of a landing in 2026, and had even said 2024 in a best-case scenario.
The point is, the range has varied, and it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll get there. This latest adjustment to the timeline is typical of Musk, and while the Moon has seemingly taken priority over Mars, it is still worth mentioning that the ultimate goal is to make life multiplanetary, and it starts potentially with the Red Planet.
SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) got an absolutely crazy price target rating from Raymond James after the company experienced a tough first few weeks following its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Despite the tumultuous start, SpaceX has plenty of believers, and the company’s massively successful Starship launch last Friday, its 13th test flight of the massive rocket, went so smoothly that Raymond James analysts pushed its price target on the company to roughly 7 times its current trading level.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
The firm officially put a “Strong Buy” rating and an $800 price target on the stock. It currently trades at around $113. Its all-time high is $225.64, reaching this trading level shortly after shares first went public.
Raymond James’ price target is tied to the firm’s confidence after Starship’s 13th test flight. Analysts at the firm said it was an incremental step that reduces engineering risks, citing the widely successful heat shield test that CEO Elon Musk recently detailed, the smooth deployment of Starlink V3 satellites, and a successful in-space engine relight.
SpaceX also managed to see Starship splash down safely in the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy Booster fell down to the Gulf of America with no incidents.
It is interesting to see these launches have such a tremendous impact on the stock and what investors think of it. After SpaceX initially delayed the Starship launch last week, shares fell tremendously. Most probably did not realize that the stand-down is a standard practice, especially if everything is not perfect.
The mission was initially aborted due to an issue with Raptor engines. This was resolved, and Starship launched last Friday after another delay on Thursday, which was caused by weather.
Now that analysts have seen what SpaceX launches are capable of and how impressive the feat is, firms are adjusting their price targets accordingly, making it known that they have high expectations for the space exploration company.
Elon Musk sheds two new bits of detail on Starship after 13th test launch
Elon Musk updates the SpaceX timeline for Mars
