Arthur J. Villasanta – Fourth Estate Contributor
Hawthorne, CA, United States (4E) – SpaceX is attempting to fend off hypothesis it positioned the highest secret navy “Zuma” satellite tv for pc into the mistaken orbit inflicting the entire lack of the multi-billion greenback spy satellite tv for pc.
U.S. navy officers confirmed the entire lack of the satellite tv for pc launched aboard a Falcon 9 on Jan. 6, and whose actual mission was by no means revealed. Rumors, nevertheless, persist the launch car did not put Zuma into the proper orbit. It’s additionally potential there have been different causes for the failure.
“We do not comment on missions of this nature; but as of right now reviews of the data indicate Falcon 9 performed nominally,” mentioned SpaceX spokesman James Gleeson.
SpaceX president Gwynn Shotwell, nevertheless, defended SpaceX’s repute as an aerospace firm whose rockets are dependable.
“After review of all data to date, Falcon 9 did everything correctly on Sunday night,” mentioned Shotwell.
“If we or others find 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.”
She famous that for the reason that information reviewed thus far signifies that no design, operational or different adjustments are wanted, “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.”
The Zuma mission was the primary for SpaceX this yr and its first mission for the U.S. navy.
Zuma is a spacecraft recognized solely as a authorities payload managed by Northrop Grumman. The SpaceX Falcon-9 v1.2 launch was contracted through Northrop Grumman, which constructed the satellite tv for pc.
The mission was initially focused to launch on Nov. 15, however hardware points with the fairing pressured a number of delays.
NRO or the National Reconnaissance Office has denied Zuma belongs to it.
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