Secret spy satellite may be lost after SpaceX launch

A highly classified spy satellite appears to have been lost after its launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida aboard a SpaceX rocket on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Asked to comment, Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX issued a statement: “We do not comment on missions of this nature; but as of right now reviews of the data indicate Falcon 9 performed nominally.”

A spokesman for Northrop Grumman Corp., which built the satellite estimated to be worth more than $1 billion, said: “This is a classified mission. We cannot comment on classified missions.”

The secret satellite, called Zuma, was built for the U.S. government. It was supposed to separate after the firing of the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. The Journal cited government and industry officials who were briefed on the mission and said the satellite didn’t separate and plunged back into the atmosphere.