After multiple delays, SpaceX was finally able to successfully launch its Falcon 9 rocket for the fifth time on Friday, but once again the Elon Musk-owned firm was unable to land the booster on an offshore platform in the Atlantic Ocean, according to BBC News and USA Today.
Friday’s launch followed a series of five delays over the past couple of weeks, including setbacks due to technical and weather-related problems. The launch placed a telecommunications satellite in orbit for Luxembourg-based SES. 6:35pm Eastern time on Friday night.
At 12,000 pounds, the satellite is the largest payload carried into orbit by the Falcon 9, according to published reports. It was delivered to a target altitude of 25,228 miles (40,600 kilometers), and will deliver HD television and broadband internet to the Asia-Pacific region, said USA Today.
It was SpaceX’s first mission for SES and the first of three launched planned for the company in 2016, provided they are able to reduce more frequently and cut back on the number of delays, the newspaper added. It is also their third successful launch following a failed one last summer, and the second liftoff for the recently-upgraded Falcon 9 rocket.
Next SpaceX launch set for April, as Dragon capsule makes its return
However, the news wasn’t all good for Musk and his aerospace company, as the Washington Post explained they were once again unsuccessful at landing the reusable rocket on a floating platform off the coast of Cape Canaveral called an “autonomous space port droneship.”
Reports indicate that the landing attempt, which took place about 10 minutes after the launch, failed when the rocket landed too hard on the droneship. SpaceX said before liftoff that the odds of success on this landing attempt were low, but Musk later tweeted that he felt that there was “a good chance” they would stick the landing next time.
While the company successfully landed a Falcon 9 on land last December as part of its efforts to recover and reuse the boosters, thus reducing the cost of spaceflight, they have yet to manage the feat on the floating platform, said USA Today. The company’s next launch is scheduled for April, and will be the first time they have attempted to use their Dragon cargo capsule to send supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) since last June’s failed launch.
Later on this year, SpaceX plans to use its Falcon rockets to place the next-generation Iridium sat-phone constellation into orbit, carrying the probes into space 10 at a time, according to BBC News. The Falcon-Heavy rocket, which is made up of three first-stage boosters, is also expected to make its debut before the end of the year, and the Dragon is expected to carry astronauts to the ISS for the first time in early 2017, the British media outlet added.
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Credit: Spacex
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