National Security & Defense

Eugene

(63,449 posts) Tue Jan 9, 2018, 05:47 PM Jan 2018

Zuma spacecraft launched by SpaceX is lost after failing to enter stable orbit [View all]

Source: CNNMoney

Zuma spacecraft launched by SpaceX is lost after failing to enter stable orbit

by Barbara Starr, Jeremy Herb, Chris Isidore and Jackie Wattles
January 9, 2018: 3:43 PM ET

A secret spacecraft launched by a SpaceX rocket on Sunday failed to enter a stable orbit and was lost.

The spacecraft, called Zuma, launched at 8 p.m. Sunday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

But the spacecraft apparently did not separate as it was supposed to from the upper stage of the rocket and did not reach a stable orbit, according to a U.S. administration official and two sources who were briefed on the matter. The sources would not confirm what exactly the payload was, saying it was classified.

The mission itself was shrouded in secrecy even before it failed to enter a stable orbit. The government agency that ordered the spacecraft has not been disclosed.

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Zuma spacecraft launched by SpaceX is lost after failing to enter stable orbit [View all] Eugene Jan 2018 OP

Could it be that it did reach a correct orbit and did exactly what they wanted but they want to keep Lint Head Jan 2018 #1

I had the same thought (n/t) PJMcK Jan 2018 #2

We think alike! Lint Head Jan 2018 #3

That makes at least three of us- I was thinking this was possible friendly_iconoclast Jan 2018 #4

We are The Three Thinkateers! Lint Head Jan 2018 #5