A crane steadies the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster rocket as it rests on a landing zone near the Atlantic Ocean in Cape Canaveral, Florida, December 22, 2015. (Reuters Photo)
CAPE CANAVERAL:
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Friday on a satellite-delivery mission that was to involve an attempt to make a return landing at sea.
There was no immediate word from Elon Musk's privately owned Space Exploration Technologies on whether the first stage of the rocket returned intact to a landing platform floating in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida.
The rocket, carrying the 12,613-pound (5,721 kg) Boeing-built satellite, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:35 pm EST/2335 GMT. The launch, which had been delayed four times since February 24, marked the second of more than 12 SpaceX flights expected this year.
The Beoing-built satellite is owned by Luxembourg-based communications network operator SES SA.
SpaceX was aiming to deliver the satellite as high as 24,233 miles (39,000 km) above Earth and still have enough fuel to land the first stage of the Falcon rocket on a platform floating about 400 miles (645 km) off Florida's coast.
In December, a returning Falcon 9 rocket successfully touched down on a ground-based landing pad in Florida, an unprecedented milestone in Musk's quest to develop a cheap, reusable booster.
The rocket flying on Friday was travelling too fast to return to land, prompting SpaceX to try the ocean landing, though the company sought to lower expectations.
"Given this mission's unique ... profile, a successful landing is not expected," SpaceX said in a statement before the launch.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There was no immediate word from Elon Musk's privately owned Space Exploration Technologies on whether the first stage of the rocket returned intact to a landing platform floating in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida.
The rocket, carrying the 12,613-pound (5,721 kg) Boeing-built satellite, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:35 pm EST/2335 GMT. The launch, which had been delayed four times since February 24, marked the second of more than 12 SpaceX flights expected this year.
The Beoing-built satellite is owned by Luxembourg-based communications network operator SES SA.
SpaceX was aiming to deliver the satellite as high as 24,233 miles (39,000 km) above Earth and still have enough fuel to land the first stage of the Falcon rocket on a platform floating about 400 miles (645 km) off Florida's coast.
In December, a returning Falcon 9 rocket successfully touched down on a ground-based landing pad in Florida, an unprecedented milestone in Musk's quest to develop a cheap, reusable booster.
The rocket flying on Friday was travelling too fast to return to land, prompting SpaceX to try the ocean landing, though the company sought to lower expectations.
"Given this mission's unique ... profile, a successful landing is not expected," SpaceX said in a statement before the launch.
© Thomson Reuters 2016
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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