Update 1/9 9:20 a.m. EST: Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, released the following statement this morning:

“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.

“Since the data reviewed so far indicates that no design, operational or other changes are needed, we do not anticipate any impact on the upcoming launch schedule. Falcon Heavy has been rolled out to launchpad LC-39A for a static fire later this week, to be followed shortly thereafter by its maiden flight. We are also preparing for an F9 launch for SES and the Luxembourg Government from SLC-40 in three weeks.”

Update 1/8 10:50 p.m. EST: Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal are now reporting that the spacecraft is believed lost, citing anonymous government and industry sources. The reports also say that U.S. Strategic Command, which tracks all operational satellites as well as space debris above a certain size, has not registered or started tracking the Zuma satellite.



Original Post:



Last night, January 7, at 8:00 p.m. EST, SpaceX conducted its first launch of the year, carrying a classified spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. government code-named "Zuma." Now reports are circulating that the Zuma spacecraft might have been lost following the launch.

Peter B. de Selding, a spaceflight reporter for Space Intel Report, first tweeted that sources suggested to him that the satellite "may be dead in orbit after separation."

Another spaceflight journalist, Ars Technica's Eric Berger, shortly after reported that sources had also indicated to him that the Zuma spacecraft could have failed. From Ars:



SpaceX, however, never officially confirmed mission success. On Monday, Ars began to hear discussion from sources that the mysterious Zuma spacecraft—the purpose of which was never specified, nor which US military or spy agency had backed it—may not have survived. According to one source, the payload fell back to Earth along with the spent upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket.

A SpaceX spokesperson told Popular Mechanics: “We do not comment on missions of this nature; but as of right now reviews of the data indicate Falcon 9 performed nominally.”

A communications spokesperson for Northrop Grumman simply provided this statement: "This is a classified mission. We cannot comment on classified missions."

The Falcon 9 rocket successfully conducted a first stage landing after the Zuma launch, and Elon Musk tweeted images of the launch earlier today. Both would seem to suggest that Falcon 9 performed nominally, as SpaceX has said.

Reports to various media outlets from anonymous government and industry sources suggest the satellite never successfully separated from the second stage, and both fell back to Earth. However, this has not been confirmed. The initial reports cite a communications "blackout" with the satellite.

Considering the clandestine nature of the mission, it might be difficult to say anything about what happened on Zuma with much certainty, even as additional reports come in.

*This post has been updated with the statement from Northrop Grumman.

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