The media was recently abuzz with reports about the successful launch of the latest SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday, January 7th. Yet it seems that instead of going without a hitch as reported, the launch was, in fact, botched.
A satellite, codenamed Zuma, attached to Falcon 9 was unable to make it to its orbit in space, instead separating from the rocket and falling back into Earth's atmosphere instead. The satellite's whereabouts are not known; it could be broken up, or adrift in the ocean.
Zuma was allegedly a top secret payload owned by the U.S. military. This is potentially a huge setback for SpaceX, which has been trying to retain the Pentagon as a major client.
SpaceX has been downplaying the incident. "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," SpaceX Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said in an emailed statement. "Due to the classified nature of the payload, no further comment is possible. "
According to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, SpaceX had no role in supplying the payload adapter for this mission, which is essentially what propels the satellite off the rocket. Instead, it was supplied by the customer. If SpaceX is able to play this to their advantage, they may be provided a clean slate.
Even so, the fact of the matter is that the negative publicity from an incident such as this could be used against SpaceX, especially with government agencies that want to maintain a low profile and keep things top secret.
Zuma was built by the defense contractor Northrop Grumman. It is unclear which U.S. agency would have been using the satellite.
The satellite was initially scheduled to launch in November, but was delayed until the rocket and satellite were declared "healthy" for launch last week. The failed mission may have resulted in billions of dollars of losses.
On the bright side, because the Falcon 9 itself functioned correctly, future SpaceX launches should not be delayed. This includes the much-anticipated first launch of the company's Falcon Heavy rocket.
"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," Shotwell said in the statement. "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 [the communications satellite operator] SES and the Luxembourg Government from SLC-40 in three weeks."
The Falcon Heavy rocket is currently scheduled to launch in late January. If successful, it will have the greatest payload capacity of any American rocket since NASA's Saturn V. The development of the rocket has been repeatedly delayed, though the core stage was first successfully test-fired in May. The full launch could be a major source of redemption - or disaster - for SpaceX on the public front.
- https://www.space.com/39328-spacex-secret-zuma-launch-statement.html
- http://www.thisisinsider.com/us-spy-satellite-lost-due-to-spacex-failure-2018-1
- https://www.marketwatch.com/story/top-secret-satellite-lost-in-botched-spacex-launch-report-2018-01-08
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-09/spacex-launched-satellite-isn-t-seen-in-orbit-pentagon-says
