Zuma Satellite Reportedly Destroyed Following Sunday’s Launch By SpaceX

A satellite launched Sunday by SpaceX as part of a classified government mission reportedly failed to reach orbit and was destroyed, according the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

The satellite, named Zuma, was built by Northrop Grumman Corp. and reportedly cost billions. Officials told Reuters that the satellite is a total loss, likely to have broken apart or crashed into the sea. SpaceX, however, says its own equipment didn’t fail.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwellafter issued a statement Tuesday saying “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.”

Northrop Grumman has declined to comment on the launch. So, details of the mission remain murky and likely won’t be cleared up until the mission is declassified.

Zuma was SpaceX’s first mission of 2018. You can watch SpaceX’s webcast of the mission here.

 

[SMAlset]

or if you get blocked from WSJ (subscriber) here's the Engaget article I saw it reported on: WSJ: SpaceX not to blame for 'Zuma' spy satellite disaster So far almost no one picking the story up aside from the LATimes (also subscriber).

 

[Grendal]

This article doesn't seem to be behind a paywall:
Zuma satellite plunged after SpaceX launch because of Northrop Grumman errors, report says

The implication from the article is what was reported early on: that the payload adapter failed and the satellite did not separate from the second stage. The only thing that surprises me about this is that I don't understand why they wouldn't have left the second stage in orbit to try and correct the issue. I'd love to hear the details but the classified nature of the launch will probably prevent that from happening.

The Verge's article by Loren Grush (who is a big SpaceX fan) gives a smackdown on Northrup Grumman for the failure and brings up the delays with the James Webb Space Telescope.

SpaceX isn’t responsible for loss of Zuma spy satellite, WSJ report confirms

 

[ecarfan]

I don't understand why they wouldn't have left the second stage in orbit to try and correct the issue.

Quote From this article Northrop Grumman, not SpaceX, reported to be at fault for loss of top-secret Zuma satellite

“The investigations tentatively concluded that onboard sensors did not immediately communicate to ground systems that the satellite did not separate from the rocket, according to the Journal. Unbeknownst to officials at the time, the planned return of the rocket's upper stage — a method of disposal to avoid adding space debris around the Earth — brought the satellite back down with it. By the time the satellite separated from the rocket it was too late, putting Zuma too low in orbit to save, according to the report.”

So maybe the sensors falsely indicated that separation had occurred? Because otherwise the de-orbit would not have been initiated. It’s not entirely clear to me. If the sensors did not indicate to that separation had occurred, what did they indicate?

 

[Doug_G]

That explains all the finger pointing that was going on.

 

[ccutrer]

If only SpaceX could have shown the camera view of the satellite separation during the livestream, this all would have been obvious</troll>

No, but really. Did they not have a camera on the satellite from the second stage, watching it separate?

 

[mongo]

If only SpaceX could have shown the camera view of the satellite separation during the livestream, this all would have been obvious</troll>

No, but really. Did they not have a camera on the satellite from the second stage, watching it separate?

Possibly not, due to the security aspect. However, it does seem the amount of thruster usage/ time to rotate needed for the de-orbit maneuver could have indicated the mass of the second stage was not as expected. Unless it was some weird situation where they were physically separated, but linked by an umbilical. Or, more likely, parameters like that are not closely monitored after (expected) payload separation.

 

[Pricee2]

Did they find Zuma yet?

 

[Grendal]

Did they find Zuma yet?

No. It's classified. The belief is that the satellite did not disconnect from stage two due to a fault with the connector. The connector was controlled by NG and SpaceX was excluded from touching it.

 

[Piney999]

No. It's classified. The belief is that the satellite did not disconnect from stage two due to a fault with the connector. The connector was controlled by NG and SpaceX was excluded from touching it.

The "Belief is"

 

[SO16]

Did they find Zuma yet?

Directly over your house!

 

[Pricee2]

My belief is that SO_S90D is most likely to have the answer that is closest to the truth..

 

[Grendal]

No news at all about this suggests, to me, that Zuma was destroyed as most have reported. Anything else borders on a conspiracy theory.

 

[Graffi]

Just because you call it a "Conspiracy Theory" does not mean the Government is not watching you. JMHO