Zuma satellite from @northropgrumman may be dead in orbit after separation from @SpaceX Falcon 9, sources say. Info blackout renders any conclusion - launcher issue? Satellite-only issue? -- impossible to draw. pic.twitter.com/KggCGNC5Si
— Peter B. de Selding (@pbdes) January 8, 2018
Sources: Zuma satellite from @northropgrumman may be dead in orbit after separation from @SpaceX Falcon 9. Info blackout renders any conclusion - launcher issue? Satellite-only issue? #qanon
Is SpaceX Zuma spacecraft already 'dead in orbit'? Rumours swirl over top secret satellite built for US government
// SpaceX launch mysterious Zuma spacecraft for US government
Reuters сообщил о гибели запущенного SpaceX секретного спутника
// Reuters сообщил о гибели запущенного SpaceX секретного спутника США
Will report next Iridium launch date soon. I CAN report that Iridium 5 will be directed to our orbital Plane #1 - all 10 will go into service there. It will also be a morning launch - probably a little before 8am local... pic.twitter.com/Sujr9tqx2j
— Matt Desch (@IridiumBoss) January 8, 2018
“We have nothing to add to the satellite catalog at this time,” Navy Captain Brook DeWalt, a spokesman for the command, said in an email when asked if the new satellite was in orbit.
“We do not comment on missions of this nature; but as of right now reviews of the data indicate Falcon 9 performed nominally,” James Gleeson, a spokesman for SpaceX, said in an email.
Tim Paynter, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Corp., which was commissioned by the Defense Department to choose the launch contractor, said “we cannot comment on classified missions.” Army Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Davis, the Pentagon spokesman for space policy, referred questions to SpaceX.
A U.S. official and two congressional aides familiar with the launch said on condition of anonymity that the second-stage booster section of the Falcon 9 failed. The satellite was lost, one of the aides said, and the other said both the satellite and second-stage rocket fell into the ocean