Skip to Content
Space

SpaceX May Have Destroyed a U.S. Spy Satellite Worth Billions of Dollars

January 9, 2018

The SpaceX launch of a government spacecraft is reported to have ended in disaster, with the payload burning up in the atmosphere before it reached orbit.

What happened: SpaceX launched a mysterious government payload called Zuma, thought to be a spy satellite, on Sunday. But the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg say government officials have been briefed about the fact that it didn’t make it to orbit.

The problem: It’s claimed the payload didn’t separate from the rocket during the final stages of the launch, meaning it could have tumbled through Earth’s atmosphere and burned up on descent. The Journal says the satellite was worth “billions of dollars.”

The official line: SpaceX says it does “not comment on missions of this nature,” but “as of right now, reviews of the data indicate Falcon 9 performed nominally.”

Backstory: Recently, SpaceX has been making launches look easy. This news serves as a reminder: they’re not.

Deep Dive

Space

The search for extraterrestrial life is targeting Jupiter’s icy moon Europa

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will travel to one of Jupiter's largest moons to look for evidence of conditions that could support life.

How scientists are using quantum squeezing to push the limits of their sensors

Fuzziness may rule the quantum realm, but it can be manipulated to our advantage.

The first-ever mission to pull a dead rocket out of space has just begun

Astroscale’s ADRAS-J spacecraft will inspect a dead Japanese rocket in orbit—a major moment in space-junk removal.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.