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US Launches Spy Satellite From California


FILE - A SpaceX rocket carrying a satellite lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017. The United Launch Alliance sent a U.S. National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite into orbit Saturday.
FILE - A SpaceX rocket carrying a satellite lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Aug. 24, 2017. The United Launch Alliance sent a U.S. National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite into orbit Saturday.

A spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office has been launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying the classified NROL-42 satellite lifted off at 10:49 p.m. PDT Saturday. All systems were going well when the launch webcast concluded about three minutes into the flight.

National Reconnaissance Office satellites gather intelligence information for U.S. national security and an array of other purposes including assessing impacts of natural disasters.

U.S. officials have not revealed what the spacecraft will be doing or what its orbit will be.

United Launch Alliance is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

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