New U.S. Spy Satellite Launches on Clandestine Mission

**American Patriot** · April 15th, 2011, 16:15

New U.S. Spy Satellite Launches on Clandestine Mission

Space.com – Fri Apr 15, 1:31 am ET
A rocket carrying a new U.S. spy satellite lit up the California night sky Thursday on a secret mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The spy satellite NROL-34 soared into orbit atop an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket after launching from a pad at the Vandenberg Air Force Base at 9:24 p.m. PDT (0424 GMT on April 15) to begin the latest classified flight for the NRO.
The details of the satellite's purpose and final orbit are classified, but the new spacecraft will definitely serve a role for the U.S. military, officials said. [Most Destructive Space Weapons]
"This launch supports the military's national defense mission," officials with the United Launch Alliance, which orchestrated the satellite launch for the NRO, said in a mission description.
Because of the satellite's secret purpose, a media blackout was put in place about 4 1/2 minutes after the Atlas 5 rocket launched toward orbit. The rocket lifted off with the help of a single solid rocket booster to propel it into space.
Thursday's liftoff was the sixth satellite launch for the NRO since September – a series of secret missions that lifted off from pads at Vandenberg and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Several types of expendable rockets, including Delta, Minotaur and the Atlas boosters, were used for those missions.
"Six launches in this time is the most aggressive launch schedule for the NRO in two decades," said ULA launch commentator Don Spencer in a webcast.
The NROL-34 satellite launch followed the successful flight of another spy satellite, called NROL-27, which lifted off on March 11 from Cape Canaveral. [Video: Skywatcher Spots Secret X-37B Space Plane]
Thursday night's liftoff marked the fourth rocket launch of the year for the United Launch Alliance and the 25th flight of an Atlas 5 rocket since the booster's debut in 2002.
You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

**MinutemanCO** · April 15th, 2011, 17:35

I'm a bit curious why this is common knowledge. Doesn't seem all that prudent to wave a banner about our proprietary super-secret satellite technology. Just launch covertly and no one is the worse for not knowing. Just a thought.

**American Patriot** · April 15th, 2011, 17:42

I've been asking that for years. Every time I see a headline like "Super Secret Spy Plane/Space craft/Satellite Launched" I post the article.

Guess it ain't much a secret is it? LOL

Honestly, the Russians and Chinese know when we launch stuff. They track it already, so there's no real secrets to these things.

**American Patriot** · April 15th, 2011, 17:43

Look at the one link, about the XB-37 up there [Video: Skywatcher Spots Secret X-37B Space Plane]

**MinutemanCO** · April 18th, 2011, 18:05

Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson

Honestly, the Russians and Chinese know when we launch stuff. They track it already, so there's no real secrets to these things.

Good point. My paranoid side tells me that our political adversaries already have some internal link to our technology. I don't have much to go on in this assessment other than that seems to be the way it's always been.

**American Patriot** · April 18th, 2011, 18:14

I'm sure that we have launches that are classified etc.

When I visited Mission Control at Houston a few years ago, I got a tour of "all three floors" of the facility. Three identical Mission Control Centers.

Two of them were set up for unclassified missions. One was set up for the classified stuff.

So, yes, there are indeed (or were) classified shuttle missions out there that we knew nothing about.