(Cape Canaveral’s historic launchpads are getting a bit crowded with commercial enterprise these days; Blue Origin just took over Launch Complex 36 earlier this year).
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NASA officials announced SpaceX’s upcoming attempt during a press conference Tuesday.
Although Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX mentioned on Twitter that he thinks about ground landing, the company has yet to confirm the information. At an event held for the media at the Kennedy Space Center, that shown NASA’s actions to promote commercial space efforts, information that they plan to land their Falcon 9 rocket first stage back will be at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Officials from NASA stated that SpaceX will try to land its rocket on solid ground. In June, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket mission ended up in failure after the spacecraft blew up on its way to orbit just few seconds after its launch.
That is up from 147,000 pounds of sea level thrust per first stage engine on previous Falcon 9 flights. The company said it meant to transition from using the drone ship to landing on the pad as it advanced its plans for reusing its rockets.
What is known, however, is SpaceX’s intent to land the rocket on land, as opposed to an ocean platform. The component was not built to specification by a SpaceX subcontractor, and it fractured minutes after launch from Cape Canaveral, causing a high-pressure helium reservoir to break loose inside the oxygen tank, leading to the break-up of the booster. SpaceX suspended its launches in June, after one of its rockets exploded during takeoff. But, the date of launch has not yet been finalized with the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing. It has flown multiple resupply missions to the International Space Station and has even got its first order for a crewed mission to the ISS.
Scott cited a SpaceX executive in her comments, Florida Today reported. The plan would be a first for the company and one that could save them millions of dollars.
Two recent launches in April and February went smoothly and delivered payloads to space, but SpaceX has yet to nail the landing part.
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In November, SpaceX’s rival Blue Origin successfully landed its New Shepard booster in Texas after sending it to space.
