SpaceX’s Falcon 9 reusable rocket makes a flawless vertical landing

Just months after the setback of a launch explosion, a SpaceX rocket managed to launch satellites into space, then tumble back to Earth, use rockets to stabilize itself and land vertically on a small pad in Florida.

After an ecstatic Musk took to Twitter to boast about going “there and back again“, Bezos threw shade.

SpaceX, headed by Internet tycoon Elon Musk, is striving to revolutionise the rocket industry, which now loses many millions of dollars in jettisoned machinery and sophisticated rocket components after each launch.

The difference between the two rockets was aptly described in one image.

Meanwhile, ORBCOMM said in a statement that all 11 satellites were put in their respective orbit.

The upgraded, 23-storey-tall Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 9.29am Singapore time yesterday, with the nine-engine suborbital main stage returning 10 minutes later to a landing site a few kilometres south of its launch pad. Another private space ferry company, Blue Origin, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeffrey Bezos, successfully landed a first-stage booster rocket last month after a non-orbital flight.

A remodelled version of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off on Monday at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on the launcher’s first mission since a June failure.

Though many may argue this has been done before – when Blue Origin landed its rocket on November 25 – they are two separate beasts. And this was definitely science and engineering to get excited about.

The broad concept is the same as it was for the Space Shuttle: If you want to make space travel cost-effective, the vehicle needs to be reusable.