These landings are part of SpaceX’s effort to develop launch systems that are completely and rapidly reusable-technology that Musk has said could cut the cost of spaceflight by a factor of 100.
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The Falcon 9 rocket cleared the pad at Launch Complex 40 at 1:21 a.m.
A live web broadcast showed the first-stage booster touching down vertically early Friday on the barge in the Atlantic, off the Florida coast.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s other equally fascinating company, SpaceX has just pulled off another major achievement this year.
Before Friday’s launch, SpaceX had downplayed expectations for the rocket’s successful return.
This rocket booster also landed on a floating barge, which SpaceX calls an autonomous spaceport droneship, or ASDS.
Shouts of “USA, USA, USA” and applause from the ground control crew greeted the feat, only the second time it has been accomplished by the company headed by internet entrepreneur Elon Musk. “May need to increase size of rocket storage hangar”, Musk tweeted in delight. During the last Falcon 9 mission in April, the rocket dispatched a cargo ship to the station, which flies about 250 miles above Earth. Pacific time Thursday, carrying a JCSAT-14 satellite operated by the Japanese communications company SKY Perfect JSAT Corp. The first success was in December, when the rocket touched down at a ground-based spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
SpaceX isn’t the only outfit that has achieved a rocket landing. It was the second successful landing for SpaceX at sea after last month’s historic landing.
But by landing a booster softly, SpaceX can refurbish it and use it again, making a trip to space much cheaper.
The landing of the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a ship will take place during the launch of the JCSAT-14 commercial communications satellite. With JCSAT-14 in place, it will help improve telecommunications and high-speed connectivity services in Asia, Oceania, the Pacific Islands and Russian Federation. The aerospace company plans several more satellite delivery launches this year with a growing client list that even includes NASA.
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Today’s landing makes SpaceX’s ambitions to land most of its rockets look more achievable.
