Astro Radar

Go for launch · SpaceX

NROL-136

Falcon 9 · Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Liftoff in 8 days 6 h

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Liftoff
Sat, Nov 21 · 4:30 AM PST at the pad
Status
Go for launch
Vehicle
Falcon 9
Pad
Space Launch Complex 4E
Location
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Orbit
Low Earth
Mission type
Government/Top Secret
Provider
SpaceX
Mission page
Official mission page
Where it launches. Space Launch Complex 4E, ringed, seen from space: NASA MODIS Aqua, Sep 10, 2026, about 256 km across, north up.

The mission

Falcon 9 is set to launch NROL-136 for SpaceX from Space Launch Complex 4E in Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, Sat, Nov 21 · 12:30 PM UTC. Target orbit: Low Earth. Mission type: Government/Top Secret. The first stage is booster B1097, on its 14th flight. It is SpaceX's 749th launch.

Fifteenth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities.

Mission description from Launch Library 2.

See it on the radar: the countdown, the flight path and where to look from your ZIP code.

Can I see it?

Set your ZIP code on the radar to see how far you are from the pad.

Liftoff is in the dark at the pad. You would see the engine flame, which fades quickly with distance: people usually see it from within about 249 mi (400 km).

It should head southeast from the pad. We guess the heading from the target orbit, so the real path can differ.

Whether you can see it depends on where you are, the weather and the exact time. Open it on Astro Radar with your ZIP code for a modeled estimate of where to look, worked out for every second of the flight. It is an estimate, not a promise.

Watch it with friends

Send NROL-136 · Falcon 9 to a group chat on Astro, or make it a plan: Astro opens a new plan called Watch NROL-136 · Falcon 9 with the day and time filled in, for a group or a friend.

Astro asks you to sign in first, then brings you back to this launch. It gets only the launch's name, time and link, and only when you press the button. Astro is for people 18 and older.

From Launch Library 2, as of Nov 13, 6:26 AM UTC. Times and status can change; the radar has the latest.