SpaceX made history Monday after it successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket to shuttle several communication satellites into space and proceeded on making an unprecedented soft landing at a Cape Canaveral Air Force Station facility in Florida.
"The Falcon has landed!" cheered the victorious SpaceX staff who were monitoring the rocket's ground landing, the Universe Today reported. The incredible feat allowed SpaceX to salvage and reuse the 156-foot tall first stage of their Falcon 9 rocket. It is a milestone in man's goal of exploring space because the achievement of reusable rocket ensures that space travel becomes cheaper and more viable.
The successful Falcon 9 launch and ground landing is also important for SpaceX, which saw its previous Falcon rocket explode immediately after launch last June. It also affirmed the company's position in space flight industry after several failed attempts at upright landing. Several weeks ago, Blue Origin was on the cusp of beating SpaceX to the reusable rocket development when it announced a successful upright ground landing with its Shepard rocket. SpaceX trumped this achievement, however, on account of the fact that the Falcon 9 delivered its payload into orbit before landing whereas Blue Origin only managed a suborbital flight before landing its rocket.
SpaceX's booster was barreling towards Earth significantly faster, which entailed a more difficult and trickier landing, Wired noted. The upgraded Falcon rocket addressed this.
"The Falcon 9 rocket we are about to launch has higher performance than the prior version due mostly to increased boost thrust, deep cryo oxidizer and a much larger upper stage engine bell," Elon Musk, SpaceX founder, said prior to Falcon's launch. "It also has a number of reliability enhancements, such as a redundant stage separation system and greater structural safety margins."
Watch the complete SpaceX webcast below:
