SpaceX succesfully launches, then lands, rocket booster

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the transportation of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit.

The successful landing means SpaceX is once again No. 1 in the race to develop reusable rockets, overtaking Blue Origin.

A new deep cryo liquid oxygen fuel system featuring cooler, denser propellant, as well as several engine upgrades, translated into a 33 per cent overall performance boost for the Falcon 9 that launched tonight.

This was also the first time the company has flown since June, after one of its Falcon 9 rockets exploded en route to the International Space Station.

The California-based company headed by Internet tycoon Elon Musk is striving to revolutionize the rocket industry, which now loses many millions of dollars in jettisoned machinery and sophisticated rocket components after each launch.

The landing was extremely hard, one SpaceX spokesman said during the live broadcast of the mission.

On Monday night, Elon Musk and his aerospace company SpaceX made history, finally demonstrating their reusable rocket technology. The closest it had previously come was in January and April 2015, both attempts to land a 14-storey section of the rocket which ended in explosions when the rocket fell over on landing.

SpaceX launches satellites into orbit and flies cargo to the space station.

By returning the first stage of a rocket, companies like SpaceX will be able to drive down the launch per cost, making commercial space launches more affordable.

A successful mission puts SpaceX back into what has been a busy operation at Cape Canaveral. “If it can, then the company says it can dramatically lower the cost of space travel”, Brumfiel reports. And Musk’s rivals have been here already, as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin landed its New Shepard rocket upright after launch in November.Shepard rocket upright after launch in November.