Space X has finally achieved a breakthrough in successfully landing an unmanned rocket upright after sending 11 satellites into orbit.
Space X is owned by inventor and millionaire Elon Musk, who expressed his delight by tweeting "Welcome back, baby!"
The 23-storey Falcon-9 took off from Cape Canavarel Airforce Station in Florida late Monday night, and landed about 10 km away at its designated landing pad. While at the highest point of its flight, at an altitude of some 200km, the Falcon-9 launched its second part that contains 11 satellites.
The upright landing is being hailed as a breakthrough for space travel, as the ability to reuse rocket parts would reduce the cost of space travel considerably according to Musk. The return of the unmanned rocket in an upright position is hence great cause for celebration. As the Space X team watched the rocket land safely on a livestream, they broke out into spontaneous cheers. The company's main mission is to make space travel affordable and possible for
This was the first rocket launch since an accident in June that saw an unmanned Falcon-9 break apart in flames minutes after taking off, with debris falling out of the sky into the Atlantic Ocean. The Falcon-9 had been on its way to send a cargo ship to the Interntional Space Station. Space X has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to deliver supplies to the ISS.
The successful launch and upright landing is sure to give Space X the edge in the highly competitive field of private space launch industry.
Brigadier General at Cape Canaveral, Wayne Monteith commented on how overjoyed the entire team was: "This was a first for us at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and I can't even begin to describe the joy the team feels right now having been a part of this historic first-stage rocket landing."
To view the video see here
