SpaceX successfully launched the Japanese communications satellite, JCSAT-14 on their Falcon 9 rocket at 1:22am EST today from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The main aim of the private space agency is to increase number of the rocket launches and landings. About a half-hour after liftoff, the Falcon 9 will decouple from the JCSAT-14 satellite and return to Earth to attempt “an experimental landing” on the ASDS named “Of Course I Still Love You”.
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It’s been believed that the Japanese satellite should have been launched a year ago if it weren’t for SpaceX’s first launch failure, in which its subsequent investigation had pushed the timeline. An attempt to land the booster on a drone ship at sea was a success last month.
If they succeed, it’ll be the third time in history that they successfully land one of their rockets and the second time they land successfully on their ocean platform.
A screenshot of the actual landing from SpaceX’s web cast of its Falcon 9 launch.
SpaceX managed to conduct two successful landings so far.
“Given this mission’s GTO destination, the first-stage will be subject to extreme velocities and re-entry heating, making a successful landing unlikely”, SpaceX said in a statement about Friday’s launch.
After the rocket’s nine first-stage engines burn out, SpaceX will attempt to land the booster on a ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
JCSAT-14 is a satellite from the SKY Perfect JSAT Group, the largest satellite operator in Asia.
All of this is leading up to the company’s bigger goal: reusing rockets over and over again.
The 229 foot tall Falcon 9 rocket has a 2 hour launch window that extends until Friday, May 6 at 3:21 a.m. EDT.
Each Falcon 9 costs about million.
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The company has been experimenting with landing rockets for some time, as it is trying to make space launches as cheap as possible.
