Ars Technica, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal followed with stories that reported that the satellite had been lost. The Verge examined what was and was not known.

What appears to have happened?

Zuma apparently never separated from the second stage and plunged back to Earth.

Wouldn’t that be SpaceX’s fault?

Not necessarily. According to an article in Wired last November, Northrop Grumman not only built Zuma but also provided the part that connected the satellite to the rocket known as the payload adapter. For most launches, SpaceX provides the payload adapter.

On Tuesday morning, SpaceX released a statement from Gwynne Shotwell, the company president, which emphatically stated that the company saw nothing that indicated SpaceX was at fault:

For clarity: after review of all data to date, Falcon 9 did everything correctly on Sunday night. If we or others find otherwise based on further review, we will report it immediately. Information published that is contrary to this statement is categorically false. Due to the classified nature of the payload, no further comment is possible.

What does Northrop Grumman say happened?

Northrop Grumman has publicly said only, “This is a classified mission. We cannot comment on classified missions.”

What’s the speculation?

“I can’t conclude anything definitely,” said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who avidly tracks the comings and goings of space objects. “We’re going on rumors and conflicting statements.”

Dr. McDowell notes that the satellite appears to have made it to orbit — an entry for Zuma appears at Space-Track.org, a database of objects in orbit.