There and back: SpaceX launches and lands previously flown rocket in huge step for space travel
SpaceX did it.
For the first time in its history, the Elon Musk-founded spaceflight company has relaunched a previously flown Falcon 9 booster.
Oh, and they landed it back on Earth again.
This rocket, which flew a payload to orbit in April 2016 for its first flight, launched at 6:27 p.m. ET, coming back in for its second landing on a drone ship in the ocean about 8.5 minutes later. This was the ninth successful rocket landing for SpaceX.
"We just had an incredible day today," Musk said during a live broadcast 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 drone ship, right in the bullseye. It is an amazing day I think for space as a whole for the space industry. It means you can fly and refly an orbit-class booster, which is the most expensive part of the rocket." Read more...
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