On Monday, the company successfully launched a payload of 11 satellites into low Earth orbit and – this is the really exciting part – finally managed to land its Falcon 9 rocket intact.
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Weather and other delays kept its comeback flight grounded this weekend, but SpaceX launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station without a hitch on Monday evening.
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“It’s a revolutionary moment”, Musk later told reporters.
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Chants of “USA, USA, USA!” soon broke out at Cape Canaveral.
SpaceX Falcon 9’s attempted landing on sea-going barge on April 14, 2015.
SpaceX employees erupted in jubilation as they watched a live stream of the 156-foot-tall white booster slowly descending amid a glowing orange ball.
A successful mission puts SpaceX back into what has been a busy operation at Cape Canaveral.
But the Falcon 9 landing is more significant, according to Renaud Durand, aerospace specialist at Vendigital.
Their goal is to recycle the first stage, including its expensive engines, so it can be used repeatedly, lowering the cost of space travel.
SpaceX has tried before to land a rocket, but those attempts – all using a floating platform on the ocean – have failed.
Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that SpaceX isn’t the only company eagerly exploring reusable rockets. A snapped strut in the upper stage was to blame.
By returning the first stage of a rocket, companies like SpaceX will be able to drive down the launch per cost, making commercial space launches more affordable.
Bezos didn’t respond to Musk’s handful of clarifying tweets then – perhaps he was saving up for this occasion.
It’s also the company’s first flight since June, when its unmanned spacecraft exploded shortly after liftoff and destroyed two tons of NASA cargo. In that instance, a Falcon 9 rocket was tasked with delivering supplies to astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
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Musk said the company fixed that problem and also made the newest version of the Falcon 9 about 30 percent more powerful than previous iterations.
