A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the NROL-105 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Jan. 16, 2026. (Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX will launch a batch of spy satellites for the U.S. government this evening (May 11), and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base today, on a mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) called NROL-172. NROL-172 will be the 13th launch devoted to building out a new reconnaissance network that the NRO, which operates the United States' fleet of spy satellites, calls its "proliferated architecture." "To stay ahead of the competition and ensure it can continue to operate in a heightened threat environment, the NRO is modernizing its architecture in space and on the ground — delivering more capability faster with increased resilience," agency officials wrote in the NROL-172 press kit .…