SpaceX denies Zuma's secret satellite is out of control

SpaceX affirmed that the case still went according to plan, contrary to rumors that the ship had lost control after the launch.

Gwynne Shotwell, director of operations and representative of SpaceX Company said that the launch of Zuma satellite at 8 am on 8 January (Vietnam time) still takes place as planned, the satellite is still in Journey to carry out his secret mission, Fox News reported this morning.

Falcon 9 boosters take Zuma satellite off the launch pad.(Photo: Fox News).

The first stage of the confirmed launch has been successful. SpaceX said the second floor of the Falcon 9 rocket had split off and landed at a facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA. However, the information about the second phase of the launch was kept almost completely confidential. This raised many doubts about SpaceX failing in the second phase and losing control with.

The Wall Street Journal yesterday quoted some unnamed government officials as saying the Zuma satellite may not have separated from the Falcon 9's first floor as planned and plunged into the Earth's atmosphere and caught fire. Bloomberg cited another scenario, when the Falcon 9 missile may have brought Zuma satellite to a lower orbit than expected, causing it to fall back to Earth.

Gwynne Shotwell said the information regarding the second phase of the launch was kept secret by the secret nature of this mission.

Zuma satellite is one of the few projects kept secret almost absolute by the US government. After two delays, the satellite was launched in the evening on January 7 (the morning of January 8, Vietnam time).