Zuma

USA-280 (codenamed "Zuma") was a classified United States government satellite that was launched by SpaceX on 8 January 2018, on the 47th flight of the Falcon 9 rocket. The National Reconnaissance Office was in charge of the Zuma project, though its purpose has not been disclosed. In November 2017, Northrop Grumman stated that the launch "is a monumental responsibility and has taken great care to ensure the most affordable and lowest risk scenario for Zuma." The Wall Street Journal reported that the design was very sensitive to vibration and sudden shocks, and had a development cost approaching . Following the launch, unnamed sources stated that the satellite was lost during deployment and re-entered the atmosphere, and independent investigations concluded that the spacecraft likely failed to separate from its payload adapter. Launch In September 2017, SpaceX sent applications to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for special temporary authority to transmit signals at 2.2 GHz during launch of "Mission 1390", for the time period between November 2017 and April 2018. The satellite, manufactured by Northrop Grumman, was initially scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) in mid-November 2017, and launch-license for the rocket was issued by the Office of Commercial Space Transportation on 9 November 2017. Northrop Grumman purchased a payload adapter to customize the release mechanism, which was then tested three times on the ground prior to payload fairing encapsulation.