SpaceX successfully landed its reusable booster rocket after launching a payload of 11 small satellites into orbit Monday evening.It was SpaceX’s first launch since a rocket boosting a re-supply capsule to the International Space Station was destroyed shortly after launch in late June. Monday’s launch was the fourth attempt at reusing the 15-story booster after three failures to stick a landing on a barge off the coast of Florida. This time, SpaceX returned the booster to a retired Atlas launch pad about six miles from the launch site. “This has been a wildly successful return to flight forSpaceX,” said aSpaceXlaunch commentator. “We made history today.” It was actually the second successful recovery of a rocket booster. Amazon’s Blue Origin landed one last month but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said at the time the feat was not directly comparable because the Blue Origin spacecraft isn’t an orbital vehicle.
All 11 satellites were successfully deployed and the mission set the stage for SpaceX’s next resupply flight in February. The June accident was caused by a strut failure on the upper stage of the rocket. Accolades poured in for the remarkable mission. “This was a first for us at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and I can’t even begin to describe the excitement the team feels right now having been a part of this historic first-stage rocket landing,” Cape Canaveral commanding officer Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith said in a statement.
