Video: Falcon 9 sends Classified NROL-76 to Orbit, 1st Stage Returns for Powered Landing
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday, May 1st, 2017 on a classified mission to deliver the NROL-76 satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. After dispatching the rocket’s second stage toward its secret orbital destination, the Falcon 9 booster made a rocket-powered U-turn to accelerate back toward Florida for a propulsive touchdown in Landing Zone 1 less than nine minutes after liftoff.