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Northrop Grumman, not SpaceX, reported to be at fault for loss of top-secret Zuma satellite
CNBC ^

Posted on 04/09/2018 1:13:36 PM PDT by BenLurkin

Two independent investigations, made up of federal and industry officials, pointed to Northrop's payload adapter as the cause of the satellite's loss, the report said, citing people familiar with the probes. The payload adapter is a key part of deploying a satellite in orbit, connecting the satellite to the upper stage of a rocket.

Zuma is believed to have cost around $3.5 billion to develop, according to the report. The satellite was funded through a process that received a lesser degree of oversight from Congress compared with similar national security-related satellites, industry officials said.

...

The investigations tentatively concluded that onboard sensors did not immediately communicate to ground systems that the satellite did not separate from the rocket, according to the Journal. Unbeknownst to officials at the time, the planned return of the rocket's upper stage — a method of disposal to avoid adding space debris around the Earth — brought the satellite back down with it. By the time the satellite separated from the rocket it was too late, putting Zuma too low in orbit to save, according to the report.

The unique design of Zuma, according to officials, means it was built in such a way that made it particularly fragile. Northrop reportedly modified its payload adapter to help absorb vibrations that might damage the satellite. While those modifications remain unspecified, payload adapters traditionally use small, controlled explosives to release satellites from a rocket's upper stage.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: elonmusk; falcon9; falconheavy; northrup; northrupgrumman; spacex; zuma

1 posted on 04/09/2018 1:13:36 PM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

Must feel great to make a 3.5 billion dollar mistake!


2 posted on 04/09/2018 1:20:19 PM PDT by dynoman (Objectivity is the essence of intelligence. - Marilyn vos Savant)
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To: dynoman

Money...schmuny. That is what government people say because it is OPM (other peoples’ money). Do =you really think they give a rat’s a**?


3 posted on 04/09/2018 1:23:15 PM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: dynoman

Nobody wins when things like this happen, tax payers lose, the countries IC and military lose. But space is still a risky business, and these particular missions are not off-the-shelf tech where you can buy cheap. It often takes years if ever to recover from stumbles like this.


4 posted on 04/09/2018 1:25:45 PM PDT by Magnum44 (My comprehensive terrorism plan: Hunt them down and kill them)
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To: BenLurkin
Zuma is believed to have cost around $3.5 billion to develop, according to the report. The satellite was funded through a process that received a lesser degree of oversight from Congress compared with similar national security-related satellites, industry officials said.

I am sure this is true because when people use black accounts to fund top secret projects, when something goes wrong they would immediately run to the press to explain that they used black accounts to fund the top secret project that just went wrong. Obviously.

5 posted on 04/09/2018 1:33:12 PM PDT by pepsi_junkie (Russians couldnt have done a better job destroying sacred American institutions than Democrats have)
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To: Magnum44

The question I always want the answer to is: after you made the modifications to the device you want to use, how did you test it to verify it would work? Did you test it under conditions that replicate the conditions that it will experience in its intended us? Why not?

Program managers have a tendency to think a little testing is all they need, and they also tend to give a lot of test credit to old tests and argue that the modifications were not really a change to form, fit, or function.

Now you know what I think caused the failure.


6 posted on 04/09/2018 1:40:52 PM PDT by KC_for_Freedom
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To: BenLurkin

Not surprised. Northrop is a petri dish of affirmative action and political correctness. They don’t hide it.


7 posted on 04/09/2018 1:46:36 PM PDT by subterfuge (RIP T.P.)
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To: KC_for_Freedom

Yep. I don’t know any details, but I cant disagree with your premise.


8 posted on 04/09/2018 1:47:50 PM PDT by Magnum44 (My comprehensive terrorism plan: Hunt them down and kill them)
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To: KC_for_Freedom

I’m sure they did extensive computer modeling...

;-)


9 posted on 04/09/2018 2:12:17 PM PDT by WayneS (An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. - Winston Churchill.)
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To: BenLurkin

Despite this piece, there is still no proof one way or another that the Zima actually did not make orbit. There are more than one examples of spoofing to hide actual satellites - some according to an article immediately after separation changed orbit drastically.


10 posted on 04/09/2018 2:22:11 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: WayneS

I’m sure they did extensive computer modeling...

I’m sure they did, it showed that the cause
was anthropomorphic global warming...


11 posted on 04/09/2018 2:25:50 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: BenLurkin

I guess Elon Musk is going to save a ton of $$$ on his insurance policy.


12 posted on 04/09/2018 2:27:45 PM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie (All I know is what I read in the papers.)
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To: BenLurkin

The Big Bang Theory - Howard builds a Shelf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPDG7EdZowg


13 posted on 04/09/2018 2:32:27 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: BenLurkin

$3.5 BILLION, for a satellite, was it made out of pure platinum and diamonds??? Who approves this shit??


14 posted on 04/09/2018 2:42:22 PM PDT by rednesss (fascism is the union,marriage,merger or fusion of corporate economic power with governmental power)
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To: rednesss

35 years ago they were $1 billion.


15 posted on 04/09/2018 3:05:48 PM PDT by CodeToad (The Democrats haven't been this pissed off since the Republiverycans took their slaves away.)
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To: CodeToad

Still too much.


16 posted on 04/09/2018 3:11:54 PM PDT by rednesss (fascism is the union,marriage,merger or fusion of corporate economic power with governmental power)
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To: BenLurkin
...believed to have cost around $3.5 billion to develop...

There is a difference between "cost to develop" and "cost to build". Development means the cost of the R&D as well as the cost to build the first model. Subsequent models are far, far cheaper to build.

17 posted on 04/09/2018 3:40:12 PM PDT by SunTzuWu
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To: pepsi_junkie

Probably built two with 3.5 B development cost.


18 posted on 04/09/2018 4:10:15 PM PDT by Ozark Tom
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To: SunTzuWu

” Subsequent models are far, far cheaper to build.”

Not so far. Every satellite is an R&D effort.


19 posted on 04/09/2018 4:54:48 PM PDT by CodeToad (The Democrats haven't been this pissed off since the Republiverycans took their slaves away.)
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To: WayneS

Oh good, its all OK then

Yeah.


20 posted on 04/09/2018 9:28:52 PM PDT by KC_for_Freedom
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