SpaceX landing is cancelled AGAIN
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Imagine ever time you took a plane journey, the aircraft was scrapped and a new one was built for your next flight.
That's the scenario facing space travel at the moment, with every part of a modern rocket that is sent to space either burning up in the atmosphere or being scrapped in an ocean on Earth.
But now that could be set to change, as after launching at 11.20am GMT (6.20am EST) today SpaceX will attempt to return part of a rocket to a floating barge, ushering in an age of reusability.
At least, that was the plan - but a fault with the second stage of the rocket meant the launch had to be cancelled during the countdown, and they will have to try again on Friday at 10.09am GMT (5.09am EST).
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SpaceX was planning to land a Falcon 9 rocket on a barge (shown) at Cape Canaveral today. The rocket would have attempted to land nine minutes after launching a Dragon capsule at 11.20am GMT (6.20am EST), but the launch had to be postponed due to an unknown issue
In their live feed for the launch Nasa said the failure was due to an 'actuator drift issue' with the second stage of the rocket.
It is thought to have been an in issue with the thrust vector control for the rocket, which controls the direction of the thrust.
This meant that during the countdown to launch, the fault was flagged up in the system and the countdown could not proceed.
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Communications Director for SpaceX John Taylor told MailOnline: 'During the terminal count engineers observed drift on one of the two thrust vector actuators on the second stage that would likely have caused an automatic abort.
'Engineers called a hold in order to take a closer look. SpaceX is scrubbed for today and we are now targeting launch on 9 January at 5:09am EST (10.09am GMT).'
The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket will take place from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
It will be carrying the unmanned Dragon capsule on its fifth scheduled cargo mission (CRS-5) to the ISS - and sixth flight to the station overall - under contract with Nasa.
But while that is an achievement in itself, of more interest is SpaceX's plan after the launch.
The attempted landing of the first stage of the rocket is expected about nine minutes after take-off.
It will attempt to land on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS), which is essentially a barge, in the Pacific Ocean.
While there are cameras on the ASDS, it's unlikely SpaceX will stream the landing attempt live, as they are unsure how successful the attempt will be.
CEO Elon Musk has said previously he thinks there is only a 50 per cent chance of success.
However, successful or not, the test will be hugely important for the age of reusability.
The various stages of rockets are normally left to fall into the ocean or burn up in the atmosphere after reaching space.
SpaceX, though, wants to eventually make entire rockets reusable - like an airplane - allowing them to launch, land and then launch again.
This mission will be a crucial step in that endeavour. The company has already tested the technology to land a rocket in a series of tests using the Grasshopper concept vehicle.
This was a rocket attached with landing legs that performed short 'hops' on Earth, to a height of a few hundred metres, to test the technology needed to land.
And this time that same technology will be used to bring the rocket back from the edge of space.
The incredible attempt will occur during the launch of the latest cargo-carrying Dragon capsule to the ISS, called the CRS-5 mission, from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Pictured is a previous Falcon 9 launch on 14 July 2014 - when SpaceX tested the ability of the rocket to land, but over the ocean
For now SpaceX is attempting to return only the first stage - the lower portion - of a rocket after launching.
In future, they are hoping to return the entire rocket to ground.
One of the key technologies in returning rockets will be 'grid fins', which are four small aerodynamical wings that extend from the rocket as it descends.
On a previous launch to space on 14 July this year, the company employed grid fins on a Falcon 9 rocket for the first time.
They were able to bring the first stage of the rocket back to Earth and they performed a practice landing over the ocean without a floating barge.
Shortly before hitting the ocean it reignited its thrusters, proving that the rocket could successfully turn itself back on and perform a landing.
On this occasion the rocket, after performing this test, simply fell into the ocean.
But this next test will be a huge step towards reusability
'Returning anything from space is a challenge, but returning a Falcon 9 first stage for a precision landing presents a number of additional hurdles,' the company said in a statement.
'At 14 stories tall and traveling upwards of 1,300 metres (nearly one mile) per second, stabilising the Falcon 9 first stage for re-entry is like trying to balance a rubber broomstick on your hand in the middle of a wind storm.'
The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket will attempt to touch down on a barge (illustration shown) after launching a Dragon capsule into space. It is the first ever attempt at landing a rocket on solid ground after launch, and could herald a new era of cheaper spaceflight
The barge measures about 300 feet (90 metres) long by 100 feet (30 metres) wide, and also has wings that extend out to another 170 feet (50 metres).
According to SpaceX chief Elon Musk, it also has 'thrusters repurposed from deep sea oil rigs' that can hold it in position within 10 feet (three metres) even in a storm.
To control the rocket as it lands, the grid fins on its side control its pitch, yaw and roll.
These are 'stowed on ascent and then deploy on re-entry for "X-Wing" [from Star Wars] style control,' according to Musk.
And to slow it down as it descends it will save 15 per cent of its original fuel, allowing it to lower itself towards the ocean without the use of a parachute.
Grid fins (seen here) on the side of the first stage of the rocket will keep it steady as it descends to Earth, while it will save 15 per cent of its initial fuel in order to lower itself slowly to the ground
Whatever the outcome, SpaceX will use the data they glean to improve their technique and one day plan to perform this manoeuvre during every launch.
Cameras on board the barge will capture the entire descent, although it's unclear how much - if any - of this footage SpaceX will make public.
Eventually, they will start bringing the upper - or second - stage of the rocket back as well.
The ultimate goal is to make the entire rocket reusable - which will drastically reduce the cost of going to space.
SpaceX has a £1billion ($1.6 billion) contract with Nasa to resupply the ISS. This launch of the Dragon capsule will be the fifth of 12 scheduled missions.
Elon Musk (pictured) said the ambitious attempt has a 50 per cent chance of working. SpaceX ultimately wants all of its rockets to be reusable in order to reduce the cost of going to space
The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket had originally been scheduled for late december.
However, the launch was delayed then when some issues arose during a static fire test - which involves a brief ignition of the rocket's nine engines on the launchpad to test they work.
The reason the delay was so long, until January, is that the ISS moved into a period of increased sunlight.
For 10 days from 28 December to 7 January, the station was in almost constant light.
This prohibited Dragon from berthing with the station, as temperatures were too high.
If all goes to plan after the launch, Dragon will then rendezvous with the ISS at 11am GMT (6am EST) on Thursday 8 January.
'Nasa and SpaceX announced today the launch of SpaceX's fifth commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station now will occur no earlier than Tuesday 6 January,' Nasa said previously in a statement.
'This will provide SpaceX engineers time to investigate further some of the issues that arose from the static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket on 16 December.'
They added: 'The new launch date also will allow the teams to enjoy the holidays.'
The barge (shown) measures about 300 feet (90 metres) long by 100 feet (30 metres) wide, and also has wings that extend out to another 170 feet (50 metres)
This launch of the Falcon 9 will be carrying SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule on its fifth scheduled cargo mission to the ISS - and sixth flight to the station overall - under contract with Nasa. The spacecraft is pictured here berthed with the ISS on a previous cargo mission
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