SpaceX Rocket Explodes Trying To Land On A Barge

Elon Musk has posted a video on his Instagram account of the moment SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket landed on a floating ocean barge, toppled over and exploded into pieces.

SpaceX successfully launched a new satellite into orbit to map Earth’s oceans Sunday but the spaceflight company’s bold plan to land a rocket on a robotic ship at sea after the liftoff came up just short, narrowly missing a successful touchdown.

On Sunday, the 22-storey-tall rocket lifted off through thick fog from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast at 10.42am PST (0542 AEDT Monday), a NASA TV broadcast showed.

The company is still working on re-landing its SpaceX rockets in hopes of reusing them for future launches, thereby saving money on unmanned space missions.

Children prepare to take photos of the launch of Falcon 9 rocket near Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the United States, on January 17, 2016. Jason-3 will float around 830 miles above the planet, tracking the rate of global sea-level rise, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That mission was still underway about a half hour after launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The precise landing of the Falcon 9 last month at Cape Canaveral, Florida, has many eager to see whether Musk and his team can pull off their second rocket landing.

In December, SpaceX successfully returned its upgraded Falcon 9 to flight after an explosion earlier in the year and demonstrated the industry’s first successful rocket landing during a commercial mission.

It’s important to note that the primary goal of the launch, to bring the $180 million Jason-3 satellite into orbit, was completely nominal. “Was within 1.3 meters of droneship center”.

The problem with the most recent attempt at landing was due one of the legs on the rocket that did not lock into place as anticipated and the rocket tipped over after landing.

Ellon Musk just can’t seem to land his rocket upright.

Musk appeared positive in his tweet after the troubled landing, saying it was not like rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD).

The most recent attempt at landing a rocket was hard, according to Business Insider. “We had a really good landing last time, so things are looking good at this point in time”.