Pictured is a SpaceX photo of a Falcon Heavy rocket before the launch of the NROL-97 mission on Oct. 1 from Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Late Thursday, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and System Delta 80 under the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command launched the NROL-97 mission, which the agency said marked its first use of a SpaceX [SPCX] Falcon Heavy rocket. "The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters safely returned to SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station after delivering the national security payload to orbit," according to NRO, adding that the launch "capitalized on flight-proven hardware, repurposing payload…