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Space
Space
Science
Mike Wall

Rocket repurposed from intercontinental ballistic missile launches secret US spy satellites to orbit from California

United States Missile NRO Vandenberg Space Force Base
A Northrop Grumman Minotaur IV rocket launches the NROL-174 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on April 16, 2025.

For the first time in nearly a decade and a half, a Minotaur has streaked through Californian skies.

A Minotaur IV rocket lifted off from the Golden State's Vandenberg Space Force Base today (April 16) at 3:33 p.m. EDT (1633 GMT; 12:33 p.m. local California time), kicking off the NROL-174 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

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