SpaceX developed their own launch vehicle, the Falcon 9, and their own spacecraft, Dragon. They have sent a cargo version of Dragon to the ISS successfully a total of five times now (including today’s launch). But of course the biggest news of the day is not a rocket launch, but a rocket landing.
Elon Musk has been working on developing an autonomous rocket landing on a floating barge for a while now and until today he was 0 for 5. That all changed at 4:53pm ET. Ten minutes after launch, and just over seven minutes after the second stage engine fired to put the Dragon spacecraft into orbit, the Falcon’s first stage touched down on a platform no larger than 5,000 square meters. That may not be as easy to appreciate when you read it as it is to appreciate when you see it.
