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Didn't they say it was classified? I think just before the separation of the rocket and payload, they said something about what it was. 13:38 in the video "Fal

Didn't they say it was classified? I think just before the separation of the rocket and payload, they said something about what it was. 13:38 in the video "Falcon X is delivering the, National Reconnaissance office's satellite to orbit right now"

harshreality 9y ago
There's nothing secret about that. It's a satellite and it's for the NRO. What's secret is what it does, and what its orbit will be. (Once it gets to its final orbit, I guess there are amateur satellite trackers that will figure it out, but not until then). The webcast host may not (I'd guess he probably doesn't) know what the satellite does or its final orbit. He does mechanical design. I'd bet they keep that information compartmentalized within SpaceX so only the operations personnel who need to know would know.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  I'd bet nobody at SpaceX knows what it actually does even though they might take a good guess based on the orbit.
- ziikutv 9y ago
  In the beginning they said that the payload is confidential too, not just the destination. Rewatch it ;)
  - harshreality 9y ago
    "satellite" is not a description of the payload.
- collinmanderson 9y ago
  We know that it's either very light or it's a low orbit, otherwise spacex would have done a water landing.
JshWright 9y ago
What part of that is classified? It's public knowledge that this mission was for the NRO (the payload was officially called "NRO-76"), and the fact that it's a satellite is... self-evident?
mikeash 9y ago
Yes, that's why there was no video or telemetry from the second stage in the webcast like they usually have. Its existence is not classified, but lots of details are. You won't find any photos of the satellite, and there are no official numbers as to how heavy it was (although you can guess an upper limit from the fact that the first stage did an RTLS landing) or what orbit it went into (which is why there was no second-stage telemetry displayed). It's worth noting that the very existence of the National Reconnaissance Office was classified until 1992, although it leaked out to the public in the 70s. They're a bit less secretive now.

harshreality 9y ago

There's nothing secret about that. It's a satellite and it's for the NRO. What's secret is what it does, and what its orbit will be. (Once it gets to its final orbit, I guess there are amateur satellite trackers that will figure it out, but not until then). The webcast host may not (I'd guess he probably doesn't) know what the satellite does or its final orbit. He does mechanical design. I'd bet they keep that information compartmentalized within SpaceX so only the operations personnel who need to know would know.

jacquesm 9y ago
I'd bet nobody at SpaceX knows what it actually does even though they might take a good guess based on the orbit.
ziikutv 9y ago
In the beginning they said that the payload is confidential too, not just the destination. Rewatch it ;)
- harshreality 9y ago
  "satellite" is not a description of the payload.
collinmanderson 9y ago
We know that it's either very light or it's a low orbit, otherwise spacex would have done a water landing.

JshWright 9y ago

What part of that is classified? It's public knowledge that this mission was for the NRO (the payload was officially called "NRO-76"), and the fact that it's a satellite is... self-evident?

mikeash 9y ago

Yes, that's why there was no video or telemetry from the second stage in the webcast like they usually have. Its existence is not classified, but lots of details are. You won't find any photos of the satellite, and there are no official numbers as to how heavy it was (although you can guess an upper limit from the fact that the first stage did an RTLS landing) or what orbit it went into (which is why there was no second-stage telemetry displayed). It's worth noting that the very existence of the National Reconnaissance Office was classified until 1992, although it leaked out to the public in the 70s. They're a bit less secretive now.