A U.S. intelligence agency said Wednesday that its newest spy satellite was successfully launched into orbit atop a reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The rocket took off at 12:27 p.m. local time (2027 GMT) from the Vandenberg Air Force base in California, the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which is in charge of the U.S. Space Force, said in a statement.

After releasing the satellite, dubbed NROL-87, into orbit, the Falcon 9 rocket then landed back at the base, the agency said.

"NROL-87 is designed, built, and operated by the NRO to support its overhead reconnaissance mission," the statement said.

The NRO gave few other details about the satellite but said it will "provide a wide-range of timely intelligence information."

The NRO, a division of the U.S. Defense Department, operates a large network of surveillance satellites, and is headquartered near Washington, in northern Virginia.

NROL-87, the first satellite launched by the NRO in 2022, is the third time the agency has used a Falcon 9 rocket.

The NRO has launched 16 other satellites over the past two years.

In 2015, The U.S. Air Force said it has certified privately held SpaceX to launch U.S. military and spy satellites, ending a monopoly held by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, since its creation in 2006.