Elon Musk to Launch Secret Pod into Earth’s Orbit – and No One Knows Why

The delayed launch of the Space X Zuma pod has been set for Friday (17 November 2017) morning, but many details about the launch remain shrouded in mystery.

And we probably won’t find out, either.

All that is known at this point is that Falcon 9 will fire from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, and deliver Zuma into orbit.

Lon Rains, comms director at Northrop Grumman’s Space Systems Division, said: “We are proud to be a part of the Zuma launch. The event represents a cost-effective approach to space access for government missions.

“The Zuma payload is a restricted payload. It will be launched into Low Earth Orbit.”

Unlike other SpaceX launches, it will not be live streamed over the internet.

The launch, first reported by Space.com, was expected to carry a payload provided by defense and aerospace company Northrop Grumman. Whatever that something was remains secret. The only details anyone has been able to get from the company was the payload was “restricted” and it was for the U.S. government. Naturally, “SpaceX is launching a secret satellite” has set off a bunch of weird doomsday conspiracy theories.

The rocket was launched into low Earth orbit to drop off its cargo, then came back down and landed after approximately 10 minutes. Low Earth orbit is where satellites and the International Space Station live.