SpaceX lands its rocket on a barge: Elon Musk confirms Falcon touched down but tipped over in groundbreaking experiment
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A historic SpaceX launch that could change the way man gets to space blasted off today from Florida under perfect conditions.
Within minutes of liftoff, the California company led by billionaire Elon Musk was making its third attempt to land the leftover booster on an ocean platform.
But it didn't go to plan. Elon Musk tweeted: 'Ascent successful. Dragon enroute to Space Station. Rocket landed on droneship, but too hard for survival.'
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The booster appears to have landed but Elon Musk said that 'excess lateral velocity' caused it to tip over
SpaceX hasn't yet released video of the actual impact, but images tweeted by Musk reveal that the booster landed successfully.
The impact of landing, however, caused it to tip over destroying the lower part of the rocket.
Landing the rocket upright was always going to be tricky. SpaceX once compared it to balancing a broomstick on your hand.
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Musk had put 50-50 odds on the attempt and said that improvements to the design would happen throughout the year.
The Falcon 9 is on now its way to deliver 4,300lb (1,950 kg) of food, clothing and science experiments to the ISS - including an eagerly awaited espresso machine for astronauts.
The supplies should arrive the six space station astronauts on Friday.
The rocket was was due to take off yesterday, but the launch was scrubbed due to bad weather.
Elon Musk tweeted this image of the booster coming back down to Earth. It hit its target but a subsequent 'tip over post landing' destroyed the booster
A historic SpaceX launch that could change the way man gets to space blasted off today from Florida under perfect conditions
The launch will be the easy part. After liftoff, SpaceX will attempt to guide the bottom stage of the rocket upright onto a platform in the Atlantic Ocean
On board the Dragon capsule is an experimental espresso machine intended for International Space Station astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy.
The Italians in charge of the project hope to revolutionise coffee-drinking in space.
SpaceX, meanwhile, hoped to transform the rocket business by landing the first-stage booster on a platform floating a few hundred miles off Florida's northeastern coast, near Jacksonville.
Musk's plan is to reuse his booster rockets rather than discard them as is the custom around the world, to reduce launch costs.
First-stage boosters normally just slam into the Atlantic and sink.
The booster was programmed, following separation 2.5 minutes after liftoff, to flip around and fly to the platform dubbed 'Just Read the Instructions.'
The Dragon — the only supply ship capable of returning items intact — will remain at the space station until around May 21.
At a pre-launch press conference on Sunday, SpaceX Vice President Hans Koenigsmann put the odds of a successful landing at 75 or 80 per cent.
The Dragon — the only supply ship capable of returning items intact — will remain at the space station until around May 21
At liftoff time, the orbiting lab was soaring over Australia. The delivery should arrive Friday
Elon Musk tweeted: 'Ascent successful. Dragon enroute to Space Station. Rocket landed on droneship, but too hard for survival'
Dragon, the SpaceX supply ship, holds more than 4,000 pounds of food, science experiments and equipment for the six space station astronauts
During a previous landing attempt in January, the rocket ran out of hydraulic fluid for its steering fins, causing it to crash into the platform.
A second attempt in February was called off because of high seas, but the rocket successfully ran through its pre-programmed landing sequence and hovered vertically above the waves before splashing down and breaking apart.
After demonstrating a successful ocean landing, SpaceX intends to bring its rockets back to a landing pad at the launch site so the boosters can be refurbished and reflown, slashing launch costs.
As part of today's launch, SpaceX is also hoping to guide the bottom stage of the rocket upright onto a platform in the Atlantic Ocean
A version of the coffee maker is scheduled for launch to the International Space Station aboard a supply capsule which will also include 4,000 pounds of food, science research and other equipment
Musk recently unveiled the images of the Falcon 9 failed landing after persuasion on Twitter by the game pioneer behind Doom, John Carmack.
The images show the rocket approaching the barge following last month's attempt. After it fails to reduce its speed, the rocket is seen crashing at an angle and exploding.
Billionaire Musk described the event simply as a 'rapid unscheduled disassembly'.
As well as the espresso machine, the SpaceX Dragon supply ship also holds experiments for Nasa's one-year space station resident Scott Kelly, who moved in a couple weeks ago.
Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko also will remain on board until March 2016.
This will be the California-based SpaceX company's seventh station supply run since 2012, all from Cape Canaveral.
SpaceX is one of two companies hired by Nasa to fly cargo to the station following the retirement of the space shuttles.
As well as a recently extended 15-flight, $2 billion contract with Nasa, SpaceX is working on a passenger version of the Dragon capsule and has dozens of contracts to deliver commercial communications satellites into orbit.
The company also is working on a heavy-lift version of the Falcon rocket, which uses 27 engines, compared to the nine currently flying.
The Falcon Heavy is expected to make its first test flight late this year.
At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to boost a Dragon capsule on its fifth commercial resupply mission
Saturday's mission was the group's first to put the stage on an autonomous landing platform at sea, which was held in position using deep-sea oil rigs. Pictured is an image of the fuel and oxygen combining in an explosion
Once the coffee is brewed, it's dispensed in a pouch, which astronauts drink straight from using a straw
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