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posted by mrpg on Tuesday January 09 2018, @03:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the :-( dept.

A classified satellite launched by SpaceX on Sunday may be experiencing a classified failure:

Later on Monday afternoon another space reporter, Peter B. de Selding, reported on Twitter that he too had been hearing about problems with the satellite. "Zuma satellite from @northropgrumman may be dead in orbit after separation from @SpaceX Falcon 9, sources say," de Selding tweeted. "Info blackout renders any conclusion - launcher issue? Satellite-only issue? — impossible to draw."

Update: SpaceX said the Falcon 9 rocket performed nominally, but unnamed sources reportedly told the Wall Street Journal that the payload did not separate from the Falcon 9 second stage and that both fell into the ocean:

An expensive, highly classified U.S. spy satellite is presumed to be a total loss after it failed to reach orbit atop a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. rocket on Sunday, according to industry and government officials. Lawmakers and congressional staffers from the Senate and the House have been briefed about the botched mission, some of the officials said. The secret payload—code-named Zuma and launched from Florida on board a Falcon 9 rocket—is believed to have plummeted back into the atmosphere, they said, because it didn't separate as planned from the upper part of the rocket.

The WSJ report has been disputed. Space-Track has catalogued the Zuma payload as USA 280, international designation 2018-001A, catalog number 43098, but that doesn't necessarily mean Zuma survived. CelesTrak lists the status as operational (search 43098 in NORAD Catalog Number field).

If the mission did fail, SpaceX could also blame Northrup Grumman for using their own payload adapter.

Also at CBS News, SpaceFlight Insider, Bloomberg, Popular Mechanics, CNBC, and USA Today.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday January 09 2018, @03:26PM (4 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 09 2018, @03:26PM (#620036) Journal

    <sarcasm>I demand that this failed spy satellite be replaced, forthwith!! My continued health and welfare absolutely depend on the spy's capabilities to spy on me!! </sarcasm>

    (gotta see what happens with that sarcasm tag . . . )

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:24PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:24PM (#620097)

    And use explosive bolts this time!! Lowes does not sell them, no matter what you been told!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:36PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:36PM (#620109)

      No, but Lowes charges aerospace space-qual rates for the bolts they sell. Fucking $1 for a little baggie of six bolts. I got one of those baggies of wood screws from HD, and one of the screws didn't even have any slots in the head for a screwdriver. It was smooth across. Before the box stores pushed out the Ace Hardware and all the smaller hardware stores, I used to be able to go to the bins, take out what I needed, and paid by the pound.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:59PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:59PM (#620121) Journal

        You ain't seen nothin' til you've carefully measured a failed bolt, shopped around, and found that it was going to cost $50 or more. Sometimes, it's cheaper (and faster) to get the toolmakers to cut a bolt on the lathe, then throw it in an oven to harden it. But, our toolmakers aren't expert at hardening. They may not harden it enough, or they may overharden - it's just guesswork.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @10:15AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 10 2018, @10:15AM (#620418)

        and one of the screws didn't even have any slots in the head for a screwdriver. It was smooth across

        FYI - flat on top is called a "nail". </the more you know>