SpaceX top secret 'Zuma' to launch November 17th

The launch window is tomorrow from about 8pm to 10pm est. It was scheduled for today but got scrubbed.

There is not much information about the payload but the code name 'Zuma'. I just happened to notice today that the launch is on. Unfortunately I will be at work and will miss it, but SpaceX will have live coverage.
www.spacex.com...

More about the mission:
arstechnica.com...

On Thursday, SpaceX will attempt to launch its third and most secretive payload for the military. The mission was not even made public until a launch license was released a month ago, and the company didn't acknowledge the launch until this last week. The payload was developed by Northrup Grumman, and has the mysterious name "Zuma"....

Starred you for letting me know. Even though no information (not your fault) it made me smile thinking of it launching a satellite just to help us play the game Zuma

Short for Montezuma's revenge. Must be some serious #. Probably gonna hit the fan.

It says a lot about SpaceX when the spooky side of the US government trusts them to launch their precious cargo. Back in September they launched the Air Force's X-37.

Seems like SpaceX is concerned that there could be an issue with their payload fairings. Or alternatively, they could just be trying to maximize their chance for a successful fairing re-entry and landing as part of their effort to make the fairings reusable.

“We have decided to stand down and take a closer look at data from recent fairing testing for another customer,” said John Taylor, a SpaceX spokesperson, in a written statement. “Though we have preserved the range opportunity for tomorrow, we will take the time we need to complete the data review and will then confirm a new launch date.”

If SpaceX clears the Falcon 9 rocket for takeoff Friday, the launch window will open at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT Saturday) and extend for two hours.

spaceflightnow.com...

Fairing testing "for another customer" and terms like "mission assurance" suggest it's the former, a potential mission-critical issue rather than an issue with SpaceX's own post-mission objectives for the fairings. Fairing issues can end a mission as India recently experienced with a PSLV launch. Unfortunately, even if the launch is completely successful and they manage to land the fairings intact, it will only strengthen the cries from those who insist it's all "fake" and "CGI." The more they accomplish, the more material and ammo they give to the hoax crowd. SpaceX is like a free content generating machine for flat earth youtube channels. Still, I hope they have another successful mission tonight or sometime this weekend.

Postponed indefinitely but they hope to have a new launch date soon.

www.theverge.com...

On Thursday, SpaceX stated that it had decided to stand down from the launch as it reviewed data of a fairing test the company did for another customer. SpaceX said it still had the opportunity to launch on Friday, but that the launch might not happen depending on how long it takes the company to review the test data. Now it looks like SpaceX won’t be launching in the next couple days, and the company will come up with a new launch date soon.

Sometime in the next few days, SpaceX is set to launch perhaps its most secretive payload yet: a classified government satellite built by defense contractor Northrop Grumman. The purpose of the mission, codenamed Zuma, is essentially unknown. It’s unclear what kind of spacecraft is going up, or which government agency the launch is for. All we really know is that Zuma is scheduled to go into lower Earth orbit on top of a Falcon 9 rocket out of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Secret Weapons ??? hmm More likely they are simply testing a new Dragon manned capsule. Let's keep in mind that the US hasn't been able to replace the Space Shuttle yet ...

a reply to: MindBodySpiritComplex

Among the Aztecs' greatest achievements, Moctezuma and Nezahualcoyotl of Texcoco organized the construction and completion of a double aqueduct pipe system, supplying the city of Tenochtitlan with fresh water.

en.wikipedia.org...

So, maybe a node/hub in orbit for a wireless power distribution grid between satellites?

a reply to: jrod

I think it's just the opposite the ability of US agencies to maintain secrets has been compromised.

a reply to: MindBodySpiritComplex

zuma is a beach just a few miles north of Northrops headquarters in el Segundo (los angeles)

it's a well know highly considered beach in the area. sucks for surfing but its probably where they got the name.

I no longer think that the Khartoum spiral can only be the Falcon-9 second stage. It may alternatively be the Zuma's attitude control system trying to right itself while still attached to the S2 [explaining why NORAD catalogued only a single new object in orbit], which has just performed a deorbit burn but, because of the higher than anticipated mass, will overshoot the aim point in the SE Indian Ocean and hit the SW Pacific Ocean instead. The actual entry point would be observed by US missile-warning satellites. It may also have been observed accidentally by air and sea traffic between Australia and New Zealand, or further to the NE.
forum.nasaspaceflight.com...