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The Pentagon refused any public comment on a secret government satellite that apparently crashed into the sea after it was launched by Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. "I would have to refer you to SpaceX, who conducted the launch," Defense Department spokeswoman Dana White said repeatedly in a briefing Thursday at the Pentagon, citing "the classified nature of all of this." Asked what investigation is being conducted to ensure accountability for the loss of a costly payload, White told reporters she will "come back to you on that."
An expensive, highly-classified U.S. spy satellite is presumed lost after it failed to reach orbit aboard a SpaceX rocket Sunday, causing it to either burn up in the atmosphere or crash into the sea. A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Sunday evening carrying a spy satellite code-named Zuma.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks after unveiling the Dragon V2 spacecraft in Hawthorne, California May 29, 2014. Space Exploration Technologies announced April 27, 2016, it will send uncrewed Dragon spacecraft to Mars as early as 2018, a first step in company founder Elon Musk's goal to fly people to another planet.