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SpaceX Will Allow One Of Its Final Falcon 9 Launches To Crash Back To Earth

A SpaceX rocket launch scheduled for early next month will not be followed by an attempt to safely land the rocket back on Earth.

A SpaceX rocket launch scheduled for early next month will not be followed by an attempt to safely land the rocket back on Earth.

But CEO Elon Musk said that those efforts would continue with upgraded rockets in future flights.

The Verge reports that the Falcon 9 rocket set to launch from Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 3 will crash into the ocean after delivering a communications satellite into orbit.
 

The EchoStar 23 satellite is heavier than other satellites and is also destined for a higher orbit called geostationary transfer orbit. Both factors will result in the rocket using too much fuel to have any left over to make a controlled landing either on land or at sea.

SpaceX successfully landed seven of 10 launches back on the surface over the past two years. Reusable rockets could slash the cost of travel into lower orbits and could, eventually, help enable deep space travel.

Musk indicated that forthcoming satellite launches will be conducted with an upgraded Falcon 9 or with SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket.

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