A rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Sunday and successfully delivered an ocean-monitoring satellite into space, but it failed to stick the landing. SpaceX is working to land rockets, which generally cost between $60 million and $90 million, safely so that they can be reused; which would lower the cost of space travel significantly.
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The global mission is led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) along with Nasa, French space agency CNES, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. Its primary mission was to put the Jason 3 ocean-mapping satellite into orbit, and it did so successfully. Timing of how long it takes the signal to return indicates sea level height, which rises or falls depending on the temperature of the water.
Mr Musk’s Instagram post said the footage showed the cause of the crash could have been due to ice buildup due to condensation from heavy fog at liftoff.
SpaceX is trying to land its rockets back on Earth in order to re-use the parts in the future and make spaceflight cheaper and more sustainable.
SpaceX’s third attempt to land one of its rockets on an autonomous landing pad barge at sea on Sunday did not go as hoped once again. SpaceX will launch a series of ocean science satellites used to monitor climate change and tsunamis, predict severe weather events and track oil spills.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has released video of its rocket tipping over upon landing and exploding. He was encouraged by the most recent rocket landing attempt, saying that “at least the pieces were bigger this time!”
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After a historical, successful landing at Cape Canaveral last month, SpaceX wanted to flawless the landing-at-sea technique, but unfortunately, all tests ended in failure. About 10 minutes after lift off the first stage of its two-stage rocket headed back toward Earth for an attempt at landing on an un-crewed, autonomous drone ship floating 186 miles south of the California launch site, in the Pacific. Last week, SpaceX was among three winners in another round of contracts to haul cargo to the International Space Station.
