Cape Canaveral, Florida – SpaceX’s rocket Falcon 9 was launched from Cape Canaveral on Friday at midnight. The rocket was able to launch a Japanese communications satellite into outer space and then land back on the Ocean Platform in the Atlantic ocean.
The rocket landed near the coast of Florida after successfully delivering the communications satellite. The launch of the rocket was available in a broadcast emitted by SpaceX.
This is the second landing on a row for SpaceX, on April 8 a rocket landed back after launching a supply stash for NASA to the International Space Station. The main objective of this safe-landings after a delivery is to reuse rockets and lower the company’s costs.
Safe launch and overcoming expectations
The Falcon 9 rocket was launched at 1:21 am of Friday, May 6. The live broadcast showed a brilliant flash emitted from the ‘Of Course I still love you’ spaceship while blazing upon the sky.
The first mission of the rocket was to deliver a JCSAT- 14 satellite for Asia’s largest satellite operator Sky Perfect. The Asian company currently has 16 satellites in orbit.
The Asian company delivered the craft to provide high-definition television and broadband internet for the next 15 years to Asia, Russia and Oceania. After delivering the satellite, the company’s employees gathered to watch the rocket attempt a landing, but they were skeptical.
The company wasn’t expecting a good landing of the Falcon 9 rocket because of the high altitude needed for the mission. That’s why Elon Musk – the founder and chief executive of the company SpaceX – was so enthusiastic about the landing.
The CEO tweeted “Woohoo!!” in bold letters after the Falcon 9 landed. He then continued “May need to increase size of rocket storage hangar” wrote Musk on his Twitter account.
The Falcon 9 Rocket came down with a flashing light and smoke, when the environment clear it had already landed on the X sign in the Ocean Platform. The rocket is expected to be delivered back to Florida in a couple of days and it will join the two other rockets recovered after delivering it into space.
SpaceX plans to reuse its unmanned Falcon rockets later this summer to have a wider variety of rockets at lower costs. The company is currently working with NASA to start transporting American astronauts into the International Space Station, the expected date could be late on 2016.
Source: Wall Street Journal