SpaceX set to launch mysterious Zuma payload tomorrow night

Photo by Bill Ingalls / NASA via Getty Images

Tomorrow night, SpaceX will launch perhaps its most secretive payload yet: a classified government satellite built by defense contractor Northrop Grumman. The purpose of the mission, codenamed Zuma, is essentially unknown. It’s unclear what kind of spacecraft is going up, or which government agency the launch is for. All we really know is that Zuma is scheduled to go into lower Earth orbit on top of a Falcon 9 rocket out of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Zuma mission only became public in October, when NASASpaceflight.com reported on documents that SpaceX had filed with the Federal Communications Commission, requesting authorization for a mysterious “Mission 1390.” A few days later, several news outlets confirmed that Zuma would launch a Northrop Grumman-made payload. The contractor had been assigned by the US government to find a rocket for the launch, and Northrop Grumman ultimately picked the Falcon 9.

“NORTHROP GRUMMAN REALIZES THAT THIS IS MONUMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY.”

“Northrop Grumman realizes that this is monumental responsibility and have taken great care to ensure the most affordable and lowest risk scenario for Zuma,” Lon Rains, communications director for Northrop Grumman’s Space Systems Division, said in a statement to The Verge. Northrop Grumman has not released any further information on the spacecraft.

It’s not the first time that SpaceX has launched secretive payloads into orbit. After receiving certification in 2015 to launch military satellites, the company has already launched two classified payloads, and is slated to launch even more over the next couple of years. However, all of SpaceX’s missions for the military have known customers, such as the US Air Force. So far, no government office has claimed the satellite going up tomorrow. The National Reconnaissance Office, which usually announces the launches of its spy spacecraft, said that Zuma doesn’t belong to the agency.

Apart from its super unique payload, this SpaceX launch is otherwise routine. Once the Falcon 9 gets off the ground, it will attempt to land at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1, located at the Cape. If tomorrow night’s touchdown is successful, it’ll mark the eighth ground recovery for the company, and the 20th landing SpaceX has pulled off to date. Zuma also marks SpaceX’s 17th mission in 2017, the most the company has ever done in a single year, and double the number of missions in 2016. It’s possible the company could make an even 20 launches, if the new Falcon Heavy — an upgraded, heavy-lift version of the Falcon 9 — flies before the new year.

The Zuma mission is slated to take off tomorrow from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, sometime between a launch window that lasts from 8PM to 10PM ET. Initially, the launch was supposed to go up this evening at the same time, but SpaceX changed the time of the mission early this morning. “Both Falcon 9 and the payload remain healthy,” SpaceX said in a statement. “Teams will use the extra day to conduct some additional mission assurance work in advance of launch.”

SpaceX’s live coverage of the launch usually starts 15 minutes prior to takeoff. Given the flight’s secrecy, chances are the live broadcast won’t follow the satellite’s deployment. Check back tomorrow to watch as much of this mission as we can live.