msantana@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5256; Twitter, @marcosantana 
 
 SpaceX launched the Department of Defense satellite NROL-76 on May 1, 2017 from Kennedy Space Center aboard its Falcon 9 rocket. Worrying, but not a showstopper.” 
 
 About nine minutes after the rocket sent the satellite into space Monday, the first-stage booster made its acrobatic return to a soft landing at Launch Complex 39A on the coast. “Tough call, as high altitude wind shear was at 98.6% of the theoretical load limit.” 
 
 While coverage of the mission’s climb to space ended early, cameras showed spectacular footage of the 15-story Falcon booster flipping around and firing several engines to fly back to a pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, several miles south of the launch site. Related: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches, lands in historic first 
 
 In March, SpaceX successfully re-launched a used booster — or “flight proven,” in SpaceX terminology — for the first time for a commercial satellite mission. Musk believes reusable rockets are the key to drastically cutting launch costs, eventually making it possible to fulfill his vision of colonizing Mars. But CEO Elon Musk’s launch company went through with the Falcon 9 rocket launch at Launch Complex 39A, sending a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office into orbit from Florida’s Space Coast. The company has been primarily focused on launching commercial satellites into space, along with cargo missions to the International Space Station.
– SpaceX had a big morning: It successfully launched its first government satellite and got its rocket to return safely to Earth to boot. The company sent up the spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 7:15am from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, reports USA Today. Nine minutes later, the rocket returned to Cape Canaveral. Details of the spy satellite's mission are classified, reports Space.com, which adds that about the only thing known is that it will be in a low-Earth orbit. The Orlando Sentinel sees Monday's launch as a milestone because SpaceX has previously focused on cargo missions to the International Space Station or commercial telecom satellites. The launch of a government payload, then, marks the start of a new era of competition between SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, which had cornered the market on government launches in recent years.