SpaceX will launch Falcon 9 Rocker after last Failure

Not content with just trying to come back from the June failure of its Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX will also try to return that booster to land for the first time later this month.

A report out of Florida claims that SpaceX is going to try a ground landing next time around and for this objective it has already leased a landing site at Cape Canaveral from the Air Force and even painted it with a big "X" to mark the spot. From past one year, the company has been trying to bring falcon 9 rockets back from space onto ocean barges.

A date for the next Falcon 9 launch has not been set and a proposed Cape Canaveral landing has not yet been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Falcon 9 is larger and more powerful than the New Shepard rocket used by Blue Origin, meaning successfully landing the former from space poses additional challenges the rival company did not face.

The launch, which may take place as soon as December 15, will be a major next step for business magnate Elon Musk's SpaceX. The capsule successfully landed with the help of parachutes, and the booster "touched down on the landing pad by firing its engine again", just feet from the initial launch point, marking the first successful re-landing of a rocket.

Scott told reporters that the company's plan was to land the rocket on the Cape Canaveral side, although sources say SpaceX declined to comment on her remarks.

That launch was expected to include SpaceX's next attempt at landing the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on an autonomous spaceport drone ship, a floating platform deployed in the Atlantic Ocean. And in June, Falcon 9 broke apart en route to the ISS.

Both times the 14-story boosters hit the ship painted with SpaceX's signature "X" logo, but too hard or without enough control to remain upright on landing legs. Mission managers on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to proceed toward a 5:55 p.m. Thursday launch of the International Space Station cargo mission, at the opening of a 30-minute window.

The "very exciting news" came from a NASA representative, who made the announcement today to members of the press at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Dubbed a "Holy-Grail quest", this new age space race is certainly on. Scott said that if the landing is successful, the Falcon 9 first stage will support the spaceflight firm's ongoing conversation of a second launchpad. This will essentially be the first stage in the employment of reusable rockets for commercial space trips.

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