SpaceX Successfully Launches First Re-Supply Mission Since Last Year's Explosion
HAWTHORNE (CBSLA.com) — SpaceX made history again Friday when it successfully launched a spacecraft carrying supplies to the International Space Station, then recovered the expensive rocket that propelled the ship into orbit on a floating barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
The launch was Hawthorne-based SpaceX's first Dragon mission since June 28, 2015, when the Falcon 9 rocket propelling the spacecraft exploded about two minutes after takeoff. The rocket and spacecraft – along with its cargo – were destroyed.
That failure made today's historic success even sweeter for founder Elon Musk's aerospace company. Not only did the Falcon 9 rocket successfully propel a Dragon spacecraft into space, but the company maneuvered the rocket back to Earth and -- for the first time after a series of failures -- carefully landed it upright on a "droneship" known affectionately as "Of Course I Still Love You."
When the rocket touched down upright on the barge, which swayed gently on Atlantic Ocean waves, deafening cheers arose at SpaceX's Hawthorne headquarters, where hundreds of workers watched the mission on giant screens.
SpaceX made history in December when it managed to return a rocket to Earth and set it down upright on land. That Dec. 21 launch, also from Cape Canaveral, delivered 11 ORBCOMM communications satellites into orbit. After delivering the vehicle carrying the satellites into orbit, the rocket was maneuvered back to Earth, and it successfully landed on a pad back at Cape Canaveral.
The landing was a major cost-saving step forward for space operations, proving that highly expensive rockets can be recovered and reused instead of merely being lost in the ocean.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth May 11, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.
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