{"id":14086,"date":"2018-01-08T21:08:14","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T13:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-kicks-off-ambitious-2018-schedule-with-launch-for-u-s-government\/"},"modified":"2018-01-08T21:08:14","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T13:08:14","slug":"spacex-kicks-off-ambitious-2018-schedule-with-launch-for-u-s-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-kicks-off-ambitious-2018-schedule-with-launch-for-u-s-government\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX kicks off ambitious 2018 schedule with launch for U.S. government"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two streaks in this long exposure photo show the Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral\u2019s pad 40, and then its first stage returning to Earth at a nearby landing pad. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Running nearly two months late after technical concerns prevented liftoff last year, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired into the sky Sunday night from Cape Canaveral with a top secret payload for the U.S. government, the first of some 30 launches on the company\u2019s docket in 2018.<\/p>\n

The nighttime blastoff at 8 p.m. EST Sunday (0100 GMT Monday) put on a light show for observers on Florida\u2019s Space Coast.<\/p>\n

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket soared to the northeast from Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad, arcing over the Atlantic Ocean as nine Merlin engines on its first stage booster powered the launcher skyward on 1.7 million pounds of thrust.<\/p>\n

The U.S. government\u2019s top secret Zuma payload was fastened on top of the Falcon 9 rocket, heading to orbit on a mission shrouded in a cloak of secrecy.<\/p>\n

The purpose and orbital target of the Zuma mission were not disclosed in advance of Sunday night\u2019s launch, and the final stages of Zuma\u2019s climb into orbit and deployment from the Falcon 9\u2019s upper stage occurred in a news blackout at the request of the craft\u2019s government owner.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, SpaceX\u2019s live webcast of the flight focused on the descent and landing of the Falcon 9\u2019s 15-story-tall first stage booster back at Cape Canaveral around eight minutes after liftoff.<\/p>\n

The first stage rose to a peak altitude of around 77 miles (125 kilometers) before falling back to Earth. Three engine burns guided the rocket toward Landing Zone 1, a target on the Atlantic coastline around 6 miles (9 kilometers) south of the Complex 40 launch pad.<\/p>\n

Grid fins helped stabilize the rocket\u2019s descent, and four landing legs unfurled from the base of the booster as it settled to a pinpoint touchdown, marking the 21st time SpaceX has recovered one of its first stage boosters intact.<\/p>\n

Crackling sonic booms heralded the rocket\u2019s return to Earth.<\/p>\n

Sunday night\u2019s launch was the first of a jam-packed 2018 campaign planned by SpaceX. Two of the company\u2019s leaders \u2014 chief executive Elon Musk and president Gwynne Shotwell \u2014 have said SpaceX aims for around 30 missions this year from launch pads in Florida and California.<\/p>\n

That would best last year\u2019s mark of 18 launches, all of which were successful.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s launch extended SpaceX\u2019s streak of successful missions to 19 in a row, dating back to a rocket explosion at Cape Canaveral in 2016 that destroyed an Israeli-owned commercial communications satellite.<\/p>\n

SpaceX originally intended to launch the Zuma mission in mid-November, but officials grounded the rocket to review the readiness of the nose fairing that covered the payload during the first few minutes of the mission.<\/p>\n

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The Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad at 8 p.m. EST Sunday (0100 GMT Monday). Credit: Steven Young\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Managers swapped the order of Falcon 9 launches at Cape Canaveral, and a space station resupply flight \u2014 which did not use a fairing \u2014 jumped ahead of Zuma in SpaceX\u2019s queue in December.<\/p>\n

The delay also meant Zuma\u2019s launch was relocated to pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station from nearby pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center. Launch pad 39A is now being readied for SpaceX\u2019s maiden Falcon Heavy test flight, a much-anticipated launch now expected in late January.<\/p>\n

The fate of the Zuma payload launched Sunday was not immediately clear.<\/p>\n

Officials with Northrop Grumman, the spacecraft\u2019s manufacturer, did not confirm the status of the mission after it flew into a government-imposed news blackout shortly after liftoff.<\/p>\n

No U.S. government agency has claimed ownership of the payload.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the government\u2019s classified spy satellite fleet, confirmed to Spaceflight Now that Zuma does not belong to that agency.<\/p>\n

While details of its spacecraft are top secret, the NRO typically acknowledges its role in satellite missions.<\/p>\n

Analysts who regularly track space activity believe Zuma was headed for an orbit a few hundred miles above Earth, with an inclination to the equator of around 50 degrees. The prediction was based on information about the rocket\u2019s ground track released to ensure aircraft and ships stayed safely away during launch.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9\u2019s second stage was expected to reignite its engine after releasing Zuma in orbit for a final braking maneuver to fall back into the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia a few hours into the mission.<\/p>\n

Satellite trackers suspected last year that Zuma might be related to a mysterious NRO satellite launched by SpaceX in May 2017. A previous target launch date and time Nov. 16 would have coincided with the orbital path of the NRO craft, named USA-276, as it flew over Cape Canaveral, according to Marco Langbroek, an experienced amateur satellite tracker who lives in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

But the USA-276 satellite was well away from Zuma\u2019s expected trajectory based on Sunday\u2019s launch time, putting that theory to rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo basically, I have no clue what #Zuma is up to\u2026,\u201d Langbroek tweeted Sunday night.<\/p>\n