SpaceX Launches Payload, Lands Rocket for First Time Since September Blast Nick Wingfield - News24
go to original January 16, 2017

SpaceX rocket successfully takes flight (Al Jazeera)

SpaceX blasted off its Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday, marking its first return to flight since a costly and complicated launchpad explosion in September.

"Liftoff of the Falcon 9," a SpaceX commentator said as the tall white rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 09:54 (17:54 GMT), carrying a payload of 10 satellites for Iridium, a mobile and data communications company.

Moments after the Falcon 9 soared into the sky, the rocket's two sections separated as planned, sending the satellites to orbit and the tall portion, known as the first stage, of the rocket back to Earth.

Cheers erupted at SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California as live video images showed the first stage powering its engines and landing steady and upright on a platform marked with an X in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX has successfully landed multiple rockets this way, on both land and water, as part of its effort bring down the cost of space flight by re-using multimillion dollar components instead of jettisoning them in the ocean after launch.

The platform, or droneship, was labeled "Just Read the Instructions."

"This is fantastic," a SpaceX spokesperson said.

Read the rest at Mexico Star

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