SpaceX has successfully landed its Falcon 9 booster on a drone ship for the 250th time, marking another significant milestone for the company. The achievement comes after the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket landed flawlessly on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, floating in the Atlantic Ocean, about eight minutes after launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The landing was captured on video, showing the booster, which was making its ninth touchdown, touching down safely on the floating platform.
SpaceX has two options for landing its Falcon 9 booster: either back at the launch site or on one of its three drone ships. The latter method is used when the rocket doesn’t have enough fuel to get it back to the launch site, which is dependent on the kind of mission that it’s undertaking. The company made its first successful Falcon 9 landing at Kennedy in December 2015, and its first flawless drone ship landing four months later. Early efforts sometimes saw the booster topple over and explode just after touching down, but the team has now nailed the landing procedure.
Landing the first-stage boosters in this way is central to SpaceX’s spaceflight system, as it enables the company to quickly refurbish them for another flight, helping it to reduce the cost of orbital missions. Some of the Falcon 9 boosters have launched on as many as 20 missions to date, usually carrying small satellites for deployment in low-Earth orbit. Furthermore, this achievement highlights SpaceX’s commitment to reusability, which is key to making space travel and exploration more affordable.
SpaceX Achieves 250th Successful Droneship Landing of its Falcon 9 Booster
The Elon Musk-led company is now aiming to transfer its knowledge to its next-generation and much larger Starship rocket, though the landing method will be a little different. Instead of having the booster touch the ground, SpaceX is hoping to “catch” the booster using giant mechanical arms just seconds from touchdown. The Starship has been on four test flights to date, but the fifth test, which could take place in July, will be the first to try this new method.
The SES ASTRA 1P mission, which was part of the European TV satellite launch, marked the ninth flight of the first-stage booster, which previously launched Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, and four Starlink missions. The mission was postponed from Tuesday due to concerns about the weather conditions at the launch site, but it ultimately took off successfully on Thursday.
SpaceX’s achievement is a significant milestone in the company’s efforts to make space travel more accessible and affordable. By successfully landing its Falcon 9 booster on a droneship for the 250th time, SpaceX is demonstrating its expertise in reusability and its commitment to pushing the boundaries of space exploration. As the company continues to advance its technology and innovations, it is likely to play a major role in shaping the future of space travel and exploration.
