NRO launches NROL-97 on its first SpaceX Falcon Heavy flight

The National Reconnaissance Office says NROL-97 launched from Kennedy Space Center on October 1 aboard its first SpaceX Falcon Heavy flight. The NRO also calls it the first launch under the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 contract. According to the agency, the rocket reused fairings from NROL-95 and side boosters from NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission; both boosters returned to landing zones in Florida.