2nd LD writethru: SpaceX conducts historic launch, landing with "used" rocket
Xinhua, March 31, 2017 Adjust font size:
U.S. space firm SpaceX made history on Thursday as it launched an already-used Falcon 9 rocket back into space for the first time and then landed its first stage on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The two-stage rocket, carrying a communications satellite into orbit for Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES, blasted off at 6:27 p.m. EDT (22:27 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida..
About 10 minutes later, the first stage, or booster, achieved a successful landing on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship that was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
"We just had an incredible day today," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during a live webcast of the launch. "The first reflight of an orbital class booster did its mission perfectly, dropped off the second stage, came back and landed on the droneship, right in the bullseye."
Elon said the feat means it can fly and refly an orbital class booster, which is the most expensive part of the rocket.
"This is going to be ultimately a huge revolution in spaceflight," Musk continued. "It's the difference between if you had airplanes where you threw away an airplane after every flight versus you could reuse them multiple times." Enditem