A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) to begin the NROL-77 mission on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office on Dec. 9, 2025. Image: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now

Update Dec. 9, 2:44 p.m. EST (1944 UTC): SpaceX landed its booster at the landing zone.

SpaceX launched its final national security payload of the year for the nation’s secretive spy satellite agency, the National Reconnaissance Office. The Tuesday afternoon flight was also the final Falcon 9 booster recovery at Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The mission, dubbed National Reconnaissance Office Launch 77 (NROL-77), includes at least one payload, which the intelligence-gathering agency only described as being “designed, built, and operated by NRO.”

Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) happened at 2:16 p.m. EST (1916 UTC). The launch followed a north-easterly trajectory upon leaving Florida’s Space Coast.

SpaceX used Falcon 9 first stage booster B1096. This was its fourth launch after previously flying NASA’s IMAP, Amazon’s Kuiper Falcon 01 and Starlink 6-87.

Nearly eight and a half minutes after liftoff, B1096 returned to the Florida Peninsula with a touchdown at Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2). This was the 16th touchdown at LZ-2 and the 547th booster landing to date for SpaceX.

Onlookers gather at the shores of Cape Canaveral as SpaceX lands its Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number 1096, at Landing Zone 2 on Dec. 9, 2025, in the midst of the NROL-77 mission. This was the final landing at LZ-2 before SpaceX’s lease for the site ends on Dec. 31, 2025. Image: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now

Executing a contract

The NROL-77 mission is the second NRO mission launched by SpaceX as part of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contract awarded in August 2020. The contract was broken up to assign missions between SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA) over five order years for specific missions.

This is the first mission that comes from Order Year 5 that was announced on Oct. 31, 2023. It was one of ten missions assigned to SpaceX that year, which has a combined value of $1.236 billion.

The NSSL Phase 2 contract is an acquisition partnership managed by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket supporting the NROL-77 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office stands in launch position at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Dec. 7, 2025. Image: SpaceX

Some missions though, like the NROL-146 mission and other flights supporting the NRO’s so-called proliferated architecture satellite constellation, are funded through other avenues that are part of the agency’s classified budget.

“When considering our launch cadence and need for tailorable mission assurance, the NRO recognized that we needed a bridge between Phase 2 to Phase 3 – Lane 1,” an NRO spokesperson said in a statement to Spaceflight Now back in May 2024. “This resulted in some missions being procured outside of NSSL.”

The NRO said in its press kit that NROL-77 would be its tenth and final launch of 2025, nine of which flew on Falcon 9 rockets:

Jan. 09 – NROL-153 Jan. 14 – Transporter-12 (rideshare payload) Mar. 14 – Transporter-13 (rideshare payload) Mar. 20 – NROL-57 Mar. 24 – NROL-69 Apr. 12 – NROL-192 Apr. 16 – NROL-174 (launched on Minotaur 4 rocket) Apr. 20 – NROL-145 Sep. 22 – NROL-48 Dec. 09 – NROL-77

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) to begin the NROL-77 mission on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office on Dec. 9, 2025. Image: Adam Bernstein / Spaceflight Now

End of an era

The planned landing of B1096 at LZ-2 may very well wrap up SpaceX’s time using this site as a landing location for its Falcon boosters.

In an effort to increase access to launch providers at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Space Launch Delta 45 decided all launch providers need to return their rocket boosters to landing sites at their launch pads.

SpaceX has been taking the necessary steps to shift its recovery infrastructure away from LZ-1 and LZ-2. The company’s lease for these sites ends on Dec. 31, 2025.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket booster, tail number B1094, deploys its landing legs as it approached a touchdown at Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This single-engine landing came less than eight minutes after lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) to begin the NG-23 mission on Sept. 14, 2025. Image: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now

SpaceX received the environmental approvals needed to move forward with a landing pad near (SLC-40) and has been making constructing that facility over the course of 2025.

The company is also looking to add a landing pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX needs two landing zones in order to recover the side boosters of a Falcon Heavy rocket.