SpaceX is set to lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the early hours of Thursday morning, carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. The launch window opens at 2:37 a.m. ET and closes at 3:21 a.m. ET, with a target liftoff time of 3:09 a.m. ET. If the attempt is scrubbed, the backup opportunity is Friday at 2:55 a.m. ET.
The 45th Weather Squadron has assessed a 70% chance of favorable liftoff conditions, with the main concerns being anvil clouds, thick cloud layers, and cumulus cloud rules. After stage separation, the Falcon 9's first-stage booster — designated B1096 — is expected to return and land at Landing Zone 2, very close to the launch pad itself. That boostback and landing is likely to produce a sonic boom audible for miles around.
This will be the seventh flight for booster B1096, which has previously supported missions including Project Kuiper's KF1, IMAP, Starlink 6-87, NROL-77, GPS III-9, and CRS-34. It also marks SpaceX's third NRO launch under the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 contract, first awarded in August 2020.
Details about the payload are classified, but the NRO did share one fun tidbit: the mission patch features a ferret. The agency explained the animal was chosen to represent agility, resilience, and a spirit of exploration — qualities it says define the mission's purpose. Not every rocket launch carries a dedicated mission emblem, so the cheerful ferret is a rare bit of personality on an otherwise secretive flight.
Information for this story came from Spectrum News 13.
