SpaceX has another launch under its belt, but not another rocket landing.
The leftover first-stage booster hit the floating platform hard on Friday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said.
The company never expected to nail this landing because of the faster speed of the booster that was required to deliver the satellite to an extra-high orbit, he said.
Photo: AP
SpaceX scored a rocket landing on the ground at Cape Canaveral in December last year, but has yet to nail a trickier barge landing at sea.
However, the good news is that the uncrewed Falcon 9 rocket successfully hoisted a broadcasting satellite for Luxembourg-based company SES.
It was the fifth launch attempt over the past week and a half. An attempt on Sunday last week ended with an engine shutdown a split second before liftoff. Friday’s sunset launch provided a stunning treat along the coast.
As it has tried a handful of times before, SpaceX attempted to land the discarded first-stage booster on a barge, this time 644km off the coast of Cape Canaveral. Right before touchdown, 10 minutes into the flight, the TV camera on the platform cut out, drawing loud groans from the crowd gathered at company headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
“Didn’t expect this one to work (v hot reentry), but next flight has a good chance,” Musk said on Twitter — more than an hour after liftoff.
This mission required that the booster fly much faster than usual and therefore burn up more fuel, leaving less for a precision touchdown.
There were plenty of cheers, nonetheless, as the second-stage successfully lifted the satellite higher and higher, and even more when the satellite separated successfully in full camera view.
Musk said the target altitude of 40,600km was achieved.
“Thanks @SES_Satellites for riding on Falcon 9! Looking forward to future missions,” he said on Twitter.
Musk wants to retrieve and refly boosters to save time and money. Usually, the boosters just fall into the sea.
SES chief technology officer Martin Halliwell last week said that his company would have “no problem” launching a satellite on a recycled SpaceX rocket.
SpaceX is working to recover from a launch accident last summer shortly after liftoff. It hopes to resume space station deliveries for NASA in the next month or so.
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