Lawmakers Question SpaceX Regarding Secret Zuma Mission
House lawmakers pressed SpaceX and NASA regarding the alleged loss of the top-secret Zuma spacecraft which was launched in one their Falcon 9 rockets. The failure of the mission also emboldened critics of the private space firm who launched a continuous stream of attacks on the company.
A number of representatives from the company, including Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief operating officer, firmly stated that the Falcon 9 rocket used during the classified launch functioned correctly. However, after the launch, several news outlets claimed that the mission was a failure citing unnamed U.S. officials who had been briefed on the mission.
However, lawmakers were still unsatisfied with the chairman of the House Space Subcommittee, Texas Rep. Brian Babin, used the issue with Zuma when questioning SpaceX about the progress of the commercial crew program.
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To this, the company stated that they will go through the proper channels, and follow the protocol. However, they did assert that the Falcon 9 rocket performed as specified.
NASA, on the other hand, stated that while they know the details of the mission, they have been informed that they will be involved should any mishap investigation or any other activities are to be carried out regarding the Zuma mission.
However, the unconfirmed nature of the report did not stop SpaceX critics from weaponizing the issue against the company. Publications, particularly far-right ones, slammed the private space for allegedly "ripping off" taxpayers with the apparent failure of the national security satellite.
Competitors, namely Boeing and Lockheed Martin, also used the opportunity to cast serious doubts about the company. A recent Forbes article authored by Loren Thompson was used during Wednesday's hearing on commercial spaceflight to grill SpaceX regarding their reliability. While it is true that the company suffered two catastrophic failures with its Falcon 9 rocket, they have stated that they have learned from these mistakes citing their 2017 track record which showed that they had a run of 18 successful launches.
The company is set to test the new Falcon Heavy Rocket this year, using it to send CEO Elon Musk's red Tesla Roadster to Mars.
