The National Reconnaissance Office of the United States launched a classified payload from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on April 26, marking the agency's first launch from the base since NROL-71 in January 2019. NRO is the agency responsible for designing, constructing, and launching national intelligence satellites, as well as obtaining information from commercial suppliers for the intelligence communitysatelliteImage. NROs typically do not share detailed information about their classified payloads. In this case, the expert group pointed out before launch that NROL-82 is a "national security payload designed, manufactured, and operated by the International Atomic Energy Agency". NROL-82 supports NRO's overall national security mission and provides intelligence data to senior U.S. decision-makers, the intelligence community, and the Department of Defense

This satellite is launched by the United Launch Alliance Delta IVHeavy rocketSent into orbit. ULA is proud of our long history of supporting national security space. The unparalleled performance of the Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle is crucial for launching our country's most critical national security space missions, "said Gary Wentz, ULA's Vice President for Government and Commercial Programs, in a statement before launch." We need a cross functional team to support national security launches, and we want to thank our mission partners for their continued trust, collaboration, and teamwork NROL-82 was the institution's first launch in 2021. In 2020, NRO conducted six launches, using four launch suppliers and five different types of rockets to send its payloads into space. The organization launched its first Rocket Lab electronic rocket from New Zealand in 2020.