Update 6:20 p.m. EST: SpaceX has scrubbed tonight's launch of the classified Zuma payload. The launch was initially scheduled for Wednesday night, November 15, but that launch was also scrubbed at the last minute, making this the second delay for the Zuma mission. The company has decided to look at data related to a payload fairing test for another customer before pressing on with the Zuma launch. SpaceX has another launch window booked tomorrow at Kennedy Space Center from 8:00 p.m. EST to 10:00 p.m. EST, but the company suggested it might need more time to review the fairing test data.



SpaceX communications director John Taylor released this statement: “We have decided to stand down and take a closer look at data from recent fairing testing for another customer. Though we have preserved the range opportunity for tomorrow, we will take the time we need to complete the data review and will then confirm a new launch date.”

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A Falcon 9 rocket is vertical on the pad at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A with a classified payload in the fairing. A launch window for the flight opens at 8:00 p.m. EST and remains open until 10:00 p.m. The first stage of the Falcon 9 will return for a vertical landing at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Defense giant Northrop Grumman has confirmed in a statement that it procured the launch for an undisclosed customer, but what the payload is, and who will be operating the satellite, have not been revealed. The codename for today's mission: Zuma.

The U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron yesterday predicted a 90 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for tonight's launch. You can watch a livestream of the launch below, starting about 15 minutes before the launch window opens, meaning 7:45 p.m. EST.

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More secrecy shrouds tonight's SpaceX launch than any prior. The California-based spaceflight company earned the right to launch national security payloads earlier this year, starting with a National Reconnaissance Office launch in May, followed by a launch of the Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle in September. Both of those semi-classified government launches were announced months in advance, however, while Zuma was only disclosed to the public after regulatory filings with the FCC revealed a launch was imminent about a month ago. It is unusual for any rocket launch to remain secret so close to the launch date.

We know that Zuma will be launched to low-Earth orbit (LEO), and the first stage of the Falcon 9 will have enough fuel after launch to return to Landing Zone 1. This does not tell us much, however, as LEO is the most crowded orbit, with imaging satellites and communications satellites and spy satellites and weather satellites and even the International Space Station and X-37B spaceplane all sharing the same neighborhood in orbit. When launching heavy payloads to geostationary orbit, sometimes SpaceX is forced to forgo a landing attempt because the Falcon 9 booster doesn't have enough fuel left into the tank to land, but not always.

SpaceX Koreasat-5A mission, October 30, 2017. SpaceX Flickr

Zuma was originally slated to launch yesterday during the same 8 to 10 p.m. EST launch window, but the launch was delayed as SpaceX announced it would "use the extra day to conduct some additional mission assurance work in advance of launch." Should today's launch need to be scrubbed, SpaceX has a backup launch window reserved for tomorrow, again from 8 to 10 p.m. EST.



The Zuma satellite could belong to the military, the intelligence community, or perhaps even a shadowy organization we would never think of. Satellite trackers, get your telescopes ready.

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