Rumors are swirling that a secret government satellite crashed after SpaceX launched it, but the company says its rocket 'did everything correctly'

Dave Mosher

  • Zuma, a top-secret government payload, reportedly crashed to Earth after its launch by SpaceX on Sunday night.

  • But SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, says its rocket performed correctly.

  • The reported failure may trace back to an adapter that connected the satellite to the rocket.

  • SpaceX typically supplies such an adapter, but Northrop Grumman, which built the secret satellite, reportedly supplied it.


A top-secret government mission launched by SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by tech mogul Elon Musk, may have failed on Sunday night.

Zuma, the code-name of the clandestine payload — likely a next-generation spy or communications satellite — most likely broke apart and crashed into the ocean, according to the Wall Street Journal, NBC, and other outlets. This may be because the satellite failed to separate or disconnect from the rocket once it reached orbit around Earth.

However, SpaceX seems to be distancing itself from any role in the alleged failure.

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"[A]fter 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," Gwynne Shotwell, the company's president and chief operating officer, said in a statement to Business Insider.

Shotwell added: "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."

Zuma may have cost billions of US taxpayer dollars to design, build, and certify, according to the Wall Street Journal. A standard Falcon 9 rocket launch costs about $62 million, and this was SpaceX's third national-security launch.

The Zuma mission was supposed to launch in mid-November, but SpaceX delayed it after examining data from a Falcon 9 fairing, or protective nosecone of the rocket, gathered during the test of a different customer's rocket.

What brought Zuma's reported doom?

The secretive nature of the Zuma mission makes reliable details difficult to come by or verify.

However, the key part connecting the Zuma payload to the rocket, and which pops off a satellite once it's reached the correct altitude, wasn't made by SpaceX.

"[T]he payload adapter, which connected the Zuma payload and its fairing to the rest of the rocket, was supplied by Northrop Grumman," Eric Berger, Ars Technica's senior space editor, wrote on Tuesday. "If there was some kind of separation problem, the fault may not lie with SpaceX, but rather Northrop Grumman."

That detail is significant, Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said on Monday night.

"It matters for future SpaceX customers who would want to know if SpaceX's payload adapters were unreliable," McDowell tweeted.

Northrop Grumman is the company that built the Zuma payload, and it told Business Insider in November that, after the US government tasked it with picking a launch company, it chose SpaceX.

But on Tuesday, Northrop Grumman spokesperson Lon Rains declined to answer questions about the mission, including the failure or success of its launch, cost, exact government customer, and more.

"This is a classified mission. We cannot comment on a classified mission," he said.

Below is Shotwell's full statement about Zuma's reported failure:

"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."

In short, SpaceX appears to be shrugging its shoulders as it prepares to launch yet another Falcon 9 rocket and its first Mars-capable rocket, Falcon Heavy (a launch vehicle that's essentially three times as powerful as a Falcon 9).

Berger reports that an investigation is underway in the Zuma mission, with both companies blaming one another for the alleged failure, and that a redacted report will ultimately be made public.

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