Search Here

According to the media reports, SpaceX is gearing up for another rocket landing during a satellite launch on Sunday, Jan 17^th. The aim of the company is to bring the first stage of its two-stage Falcon 9 rocket back for a soft touchdown on a ship in Pacific Ocean during a launch of Jason-3 Earth Observation Satellite from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. As reported by NBC News.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 has already been through a landing session in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on December 21^st at the same time when Satellite communication company, Orbcomm launched its 11 spacecraft. This was the first time ever that booster landed softly through an orbital liftoff. Another company that achieved a milestone last year was Blue Origin owned by Jeff Bezos from Amazon, landing its first rocket, New Shepard, in November during a sub-orbital test flight. SpaceX has already attempted sea landing of Falcon 9 twice before, once in January and another one in April of 2015. Even though both the times rocket came very close to its rocket stage hit, but due to coming in too hard, it toppled and exploded on the deck of the ship, reported Discovery News.

Through successful touchdown attempts, SpaceX hopes to develop a rocket that is rapidly reusable, a technology that can cut the cost of spaceflight operation by at least 100 times, said company co-founder and CEO Elon Musk. Through these dramatic price reductions, it can be Mars colonization could become an economic possibility, he added, as reported by Scientific American.