The narrow launch window begins at 10:42 a.m. Sunday.
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An employee works on a rocket engine at the SpaceX factory in Hawthorne. For the latest launch, the rocket stage flew to about 75 kilometers before turning around, leaving the rest of the rocket to deliver a package of satellites into low Earth orbit.
Musk said drone ship landings are needed for “high velocity missions”, which would allow payloads, such as satellites, to reach a higher orbit.
The history-making landing was a major cost-saving step forward for space operations, proving that hugely expensive rockets can be recovered and reused instead of merely being lost into the ocean.
According to the media reports, SpaceX is gearing up for another rocket landing during a satellite launch on Sunday, Jan 17.
Jason-3, a collaborative effort between NOAA, NASA, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, France’s space agency, and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, will continue the ability to monitor and precisely measure global sea surface heights, monitor the intensification of tropical cyclones and support seasonal and coastal forecasts. The data will also be used to help with studies of ocean circulation and climate change as well as the human impacts on the world’s oceans.
SpaceX’s latest launch is a new video showcasing the best bits from its flawless Falcon 9 landing, achieved in Cape Canaveral last month.
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Technicians from SpaceX and Thales Alenia Space, the French manufacturer of the Jason 3 spacecraft, oversaw the encapsulation procedure January 8 inside SpaceX’s payload processing facility at Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
