NRO's Secret NROL-36 Payload Launches
An Atlas 5 rocket ascends toward space carrying the classified NROL-36 satellite and 11 small science cubesats on Sept. 13, 2012, in a flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Atlas 5 Rocket Lifts Off with NROL-36 Spy Satellite
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasts off from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 2:39 p.m. PDT with the NROL-36 national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Liftoff! Atlas 5 Launches with NROL-36 Satellite
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasts off from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 2:39 p.m. PDT with the NROL-36 national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Atlas 5 Rocket Launches NROL-36
The classified NROL-36 satellite launches into orbit on a mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on Sept. 13, 2012, after a weeks of delay. The satellite launched atop a Atlas 5 rocket in a flight staged from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Atlas 5 Rocket Launches NROL-36
An Atlas 5 rocket ascends toward space carrying the classified NROL-36 satellite and 11 small science cubesats on Sept. 13, 2012, in a flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Rollback of Atlas V NROL-36, VAFB
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V stands ready for launch at Space Launch Complex-3 with a national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Rollback of Atlas V NROL-36, VAFB
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V stands ready for launch at Space Launch Complex-3 with a national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Payload Section of Atlas V NROL-36
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V stands ready for launch at Space Launch Complex-3 with a national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
NROL-36 Spy Satellite Mated to Rocket
The National Reconnaissance Office's classified NROL-36 satellite payload, encapsulated in a 4-meter nose cone, is attached to its Atlas 5 rocket in preparation for an Aug. 2 launch from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
NROL-36 Spy Satellite Mission Poster
The mission posted for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office NROL-36 mission on Aug. 2, 2012.
Vandenberg’s 5th Atlas V Lifts Off
Team Vandenberg launched a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a National Reconnaissance Office payload from Space Launch Complex-3 here Sept. 13, 2012. It was the fifth Atlas V processed at Vandenberg and the 606th Atlas mission in U.S. history.
