SpaceX is set to launch NROL-77 for the National Reconnaissance Office from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9, marking the NRO’s tenth and final launch of 2025 and SpaceX’s second NRO payload under the Phase 2 NSSL program.

This mission represents SpaceX’s third national security launch of 2025, continuing a busy schedule of classified NRO missions from the Cape Canaveral complex.

The planned liftoff is at approximately 2:16 p.m. EST on the scheduled date, with the Falcon 9 first stage aiming for a landing at Landing Zone 2.

In a broader context, last week featured high activity from China and SpaceX, including Vega C and multiple Starlink launches, plus Long March 8A showing coal-based rocket kerosene usage.

If successful, the B1096 booster would attempt landing at LZ-2, potentially generating sonic booms audible across Central Florida.

B1096 would become SpaceX’s 16th landing at LZ-2 and its 547th booster landing overall.

This mission uses Falcon 9 booster B1096, making its fourth flight after prior missions including NASA IMAP, Amazon Kuiper Falcon 01, and Starlink 6-87.

The mission could mark SpaceX’s final booster recovery at LZ-2 as the company shifts recovery infrastructure away from LZ-1 and LZ-2 in alignment with a policy favoring pad-based landings.

During the week, eight launches are planned by the U.S., Russia, and New Zealand, including SpaceX Starlink missions from Kennedy Space Center and Vandenberg, Roscosmos from Plesetsk, Rocket Lab from New Zealand, and JAXA’s RAISE-4 tech mission.

Looking ahead in mid-December, upcoming missions include Atlas V with Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Arianespace Galileo satellites, Blue Origin’s NS-37, and ISRO’s BlueBird Block 2 FM1.

A separate Kennedy Space Center Starlink mission occurred the day before, highlighting SpaceX’s 2025 cadence and the fleet’s leading first-stage booster achieving its 32nd flight while launching the 3,000th Starlink satellite of the year.

SpaceX is pursuing additional landing pads, including near SLC-40 and at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, to support recovery needs for Falcon 9 boosters and Falcon Heavy side boosters.