Government investigators have exonerated SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in the loss of a top secret space mission known as Zuma in January, blaming a malfunction in a component modified by Northrop Grumman that connected the launcher with its classified payload, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that two teams of government and industry investigators have concluded that a payload adapter — a structure used to attach a satellite to its rocket booster — failed to function correctly after an otherwise successful launch from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Jan. 7.
The newspaper reported the adapter was purchased from a subcontractor and modified for the Zuma mission by Northrop Grumman, which also built the classified Zuma spacecraft and arranged for its launch with SpaceX.
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