WASHINGTON, Feb 3, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - A US intelligence agency said Wednesday
that its newest spy satellite successfully launched into orbit atop a
reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

  The rocket took off at 12:27 pm local time (2027 GMT) from the Vandenberg
Air Force base in California, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which
is in charge of the US Space Force, said in a statement.

  After releasing the satellite, dubbed NROL-87, into orbit, the Falcon 9
rocket then landed back at the base, the agency said.

  "NROL-87 is designed, built, and operated by the NRO to support its
overhead reconnaissance mission," the statement said.

  The NRO gave few other details about the satellite but said it will
"provide a wide-range of timely intelligence information."

  The NRO, a division of the US Defense Department, operates a large network
of surveillance satellites, and is headquartered near Washington, in northern
Virginia.

  NROL-87, the first satellite launched by the NRO in 2022, is the third time
the agency has used a Falcon 9 rocket.

  The NRO has launched 16 other satellites over the past two years.