United States space firm SpaceX made history on Friday 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 first SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to fly with a reused first stage is seen on Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A.
Elon Musk's private space company is set to launch a satellite for Luxembourg-based communications company SES at 6:27 p.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "This is going to be, hopefully, a huge revolution in spaceflight", Musk said.
"We think this one has some historic value", said SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk in a post-launch press conference, "so we are thinking the Cape might like to have it as something to remember the moment". By actually re-landing the first stage with thrust rather than simply having it open a parachute and fall into the ocean, SpaceX's Falcon 9 also definitely has a claim to a more rapidly reusable system as well as infinitely more style points.
According to a briefing by SpaceX, the first and second stages will separate at 2 minutes 41 seconds after launch and the satellite, which is created to exclusively serve the Latin American market, will deploy 32 minutes after liftoff.
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Naturally, now that the rocket has successfully returned to Earth in one piece again, it means that it could be used for a third launch in the near future. The success is an important part in SpaceX's recently stated goal to hold a launch every two-to-three weeks starting soon, helping it fulfill its backlog of 70 or so missions. "I'm still at a loss for words, but it's really a great day not just for SpaceX and the space industry as a whole and proving that something can be done that many people said was impossible". According to Musk, the fairing alone costs $6 million to manufacture, and so recovery is vital to further reducing the cost of launches.
SpaceX has previously shown it can land a booster on a platform.
That same droneship, named Of Course I Still Love You, also recaptured the first-stage rocket on Thursday.
The SES-10 communications satellite is on its way to a geosynchronous orbit where it will provide services to Latin America.
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