US Spy Satellite Launches Into Space Along with 13 Tiny Cubesats

8:49 a.m. local California time), lofting the secret NROL-55 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the agency that operates the United States' spy satellites. Nine of the tiny spacecraft were sponsored by the NRO, while NASA sponsored the other four. "That was a great launch and I'm very excited," Andres Martinez, program manager for NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Program, said just after liftoff during NASA's live launch commentary.