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United States fails again in landing satellite on drone ship

The upgraded SpaceX’s Falcon 9 reusable rocket launched Friday the SES-9 commercial satellite into orbit after a string of delays due to high-altitude winds, some technical problems and a wayward boat.

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The SES-9 satellite, owned by Luxembourg-based communications satellite operator SES, entered into orbit at 6:35 p.m. local time Friday after being launched by a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The video feed cut out at the last instant, keeping everyone guessing as to the fate of the unmanned first stage rocket, but SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has now confirmed in a tweet that the landing attempt was unsuccessful.

The company scored a rocket landing on the ground at Cape Canaveral in December, but has yet to nail a trickier barge landing at sea. The Falcon 9 rocket had a very heavy payload this time, plus the fact that the satellite needed to be launched into a high orbit, which meant a lot of fuel had to be used, leaving very little left for the powered landing. But while the launch was successful, the landing didn’t really go as intended. With the SES-9 satellite separating as planned from the Falcon 9 rocket and heading off toward its final orbit.

A report published in the Business-Standard said, “The space firm failed in an attempt to softland the spent first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported”.

SpaceX has another launch under its belt, but not another rocket landing. Space X, a company that aims to develop completely reusable rockets, had previously said the success rate for this was slim.

“Didn’t expect this one to work … but next flight has a good chance”, Musk wrote. The company’s next launch is scheduled for April, and will be the first time they have attempted to use their Dragon cargo capsule to send supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) since last June’s failed launch. It will also provide high-speed broadband service to over 20 nations of the Asia-Pacific region.

First stage Falcon 9 attempting to land on the ship “Just Read the Instructions ” “.

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On other missions, SpaceX has delivered multiple satellites or supplies to astronauts, and its flights have made it the first private company to dock at the space station.

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