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SpaceX Lands Falcon 9 Rocket At Cape Canaveral (planetary.org)

Posted by samzenpus on from the if-at-first-you-don't-succeed dept.

Rei writes: At 8:40 PM today, SpaceX successfully launched and relanded the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral, as well as delivering to orbit the last portion of ORBCOMM's communication satellite constellation. This also marks SpaceX's return to flight and the first launch of the "Full Thrust" Falcon 9 v1.1 with densified (extremely chilled) propellants. The company will now shift its efforts toward catching up on its backlog, investigating and refurbishing its landed first stage, and preparing for the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket this spring. Congratulations to everyone at SpaceX!

2 of 373 comments (clear)

  1. Congratulations to the SpaceX team! by Goldenhawk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I actually cheered out loud. I've been a space fan since the shuttle program began. This is great news, and great progress.

    --
    --Brandon / Split Infinity Music

  2. Re:Solid ground landing by eth1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I wonder how much of this was due to learning from the past misses and updating to version 1.1, and how much was from deciding to land on the ground and not on a barge at sea. Hell, learning from past misses and deciding not to land on a barge might be the same thing.

    Landing on the barge the first few times was a good idea in spite of the wiggly landing pad in case they were way off target - they wouldn't hit anything but water.

    They showed they could get it within the radius of the barge consistently, so now it makes sense to land it on a solid platform where it's easy to go get it.