Secret SpaceX Zuma mission ‘TOTAL LOSS’ as spy satellite destroyed in 'FIREBALL'

THE top secret Zuma mission has "burned up" in a fireball after it failed to separate from the SpaceX rocket correctly, reports claim.

SpaceX satelliteGETTY

SpaceX Zuma mission has been branded a failure after it failed to make orbit

The high-profile mission, backed by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, has been branded a failure after the highly sensitive and expensive craft thought to be a spy satellite was lost.

The report from Dow Jones cited industry and government sources and claimed that the missions highly valuable payload was thought to have burned up in the atmosphere.

The private firm who made the suspected spy satellite for an unknown arm of the US government said they were unable to comment on the “classified mission”.

A SpaceX spokesman said: "We do not comment on missions of this nature, but as of right now reviews of the data indicate Falcon 9 performed nominally."

During the customary live stream, the feed cut out just before the key second stage of the mission which would launch the satellite into orbit to protect the top secret nature of the Zuma mission.

SpaceX released a statement to say that their Falcon 9 rocket "did everything correctly" during the mission. 

The feed cut away from the fairing deployment, which sees the second stage of Falcon 9 and Zuma enter low orbit, to show the first stage rocket landing at Cape Canaveral.

The cut which is bound to send conspiracy theorists wild was announced before the launch due to the sensitive nature of the secret Zuma spacecraft.

Some viewers, however, must have missed the announcement and were confused when the pictures cut away before stage two began.

The lack of information and the secretive nature of the project mean it is unclear weather the Falcon 9 or the Zuma craft were at fault.

SpaceX launches secret US government mission

The mysterious project saw the private space agency launch the satellite allowing an unnamed government organisation to send messages or spy on the surface.

One of the few scraps of information currently available has revealed Zuma was supposed to enter into a low orbit around Earth.

What the orbiter's mission was and who had planned to operate it is unknown, with US authorities so far refusing the release any more information.

Falcon 9GETTY

The Zuma craft was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket

The satellite was launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The launch was first pencilled in for the middle of November but was eventually pushed back so SpaceX could analyse their data for a previous launch

SpaceX launched the mission from the Cape Canaveral at 8.00pm EST.

The mission had been the firm’s most secretive to date.

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