SpaceX Safely Lands Launched Rocket Back On Earth — Again

Sunday's mission was SpaceX's fourth successful landing aboard a drone ship and the sixth overall to safely land back on Earth's surface.

Andy Szal
Aug 17th, 2016
(Image credit: SpaceX)
(Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX successfully conducted yet another launch by landing its rocket on an ocean-borne ship over the weekend.

Elon Musk's private spaceflight company is one of several that aims to reuse rockets, which could dramatically curb the cost of space travel.

Sunday's mission was SpaceX's fourth successful landing aboard a drone ship off the Florida coast and the sixth overall to safely land back on Earth's surface.

(Image credit: SpaceX)(Image credit: SpaceX)

The Falcon 9 rocket delivered the JCSAT-16, a Japanese communications satellite, into orbit 22,000 miles above the equator. The mission to high orbit — which the company warned would be a more difficult landing — was SpaceX's third to successfully return to Earth.

SpaceX reportedly hopes to send a previously launched rocket into space for the first time this fall.

More in Aerospace
In this Oct. 29, 2019, file photo Boeing Company President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg appears before a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on 'Aviation Safety and the Future of Boeing's 737 MAX' on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Boeing Ex-CEO Gets $62M Payout
Muilenburg was fired in late December after failing to get the company’s 737 Max jetliner back in the air.
Jan 12th, 2020
In this Oct. 3, 2019 file photo, completed Boeing 737 MAX fuselages, made at Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita, KS, sit covered in tarps near the factory.
Boeing Supplier to Cut 2,800 Jobs in KS
Tied to the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, the layoffs threaten to hurt a state economy that's been solid for months.
Jan 10th, 2020
This image taken from a video on Wednesday Jan. 8, 2020 shows a light in the sky which appears to show the Ukrainian jetliner plane on fire and crashing into ground. Western leaders have said the plane appeared to have been unintentionally hit by a surface-to-air missile near Tehran, just hours after Iran launched a series of ballistic missiles at two US bases in Iraq to avenge the killing of its top general in an American airstrike last week. Iran on Friday Jan. 10, 2020, denied the allegations.
Video Appears to Show Boeing Plane Was Struck
The verified videos seem to prove that a Boeing mechanical problem was not the cause.
Jan 10th, 2020
Boeing Flying Ap
Boeing Slid Max Problems Past FAA
In one exchange, an employee told a colleague they wouldn't let their family ride on a 737 Max.
Jan 9th, 2020
Airbus Ap
Airbus Adds 275 Jobs
Airbus currently employs about 1,000 people at the site assembling A220 and A320 models.
Jan 9th, 2020
Boeing Problems Persist Ap
Max a Growing Toll on Suppliers
More than 40 aerospace companies provide parts and services for production of that aircraft.
Jan 9th, 2020
Employees and contractors watch as the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System rocket, that will be used for the Artemis 1 Mission, is moved to the Pegasus barge, at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility where it was built, in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. It will be transported to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for its green run test.
Rocket Part Ferried on Mississippi
A huge component of a new rocket system was wheeled slowly from a New Orleans spacecraft factory on Wednesday to a barge that will float it up the Mississippi River for testing.
Jan 8th, 2020
In this photo taken on Saturday, May 26, 2018, showing the actual Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 UR-PSR plane that crashed Wednesday Jan. 8, 2020, on the outskirts of Tehran, Iran, seen here as it waits to takeoff at Borispil international airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine. This Ukrainian airplane carrying 176 people crashed on Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Tehran's main airport, killing all onboard, Iranian state TV and officials in Ukraine said.
737 Crashes in Iran
It is too early to know what caused the crash and whether Boeing bears any responsibility for the lives of the people who died on the 737.
Jan 8th, 2020
Virgin Galactic Ap
Virgin Galactic Ship Reaches Milestone
The company now has two spaceships which are structurally complete.
Jan 8th, 2020
In this Dec. 11, 2019, file photo, an United Airlines Boeing 737 Max airplane takes off in the rain at Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Wash. Boeing said Tuesday, Jan, 7, 2020, it is recommending that pilots receive training in a flight simulator before the grounded 737 Max returns to flying, a reversal of the company's long-held position that computer-based training alone was adequate. The 737 Max has been grounded worldwide since last March after two crashes killed 346 people.
Boeing: Pilots Will Need More Training
It's a reversal of the company's long-held position that computer-based training alone was adequate.
Jan 8th, 2020
In this March 27, 2019, photo taken with a fish-eye lens, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane sits on the assembly line during a brief media tour in Boeing's 737 assembly facility in Renton, Wash. The looming production shutdown of Boeing 737 Max jets is taking a toll on a key supplier. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. is asking employees if they will take voluntarily buyouts. Spirit suspended production of fuselages and other parts for the Max on Jan. 1, 2020, after Boeing told the Wichita, Kansas, company to suspend shipments.
Spirit AeroSystems May Cut Jobs
Spirit has about 15,000 employees in the U.S.
Jan 8th, 2020
Space X Facility Ap
SpaceX Launches 60 More Satellites
This time, SpaceX is testing a dark coating to appease astronomers who are fearful of the skies being spoiled.
Jan 7th, 2020
In this file photo dated Monday, March 11, 2019, rescuers work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Air Crash Deaths Fall by Half
There was one fatal accident for every 5.58 million commercial flights.
Jan 6th, 2020
In this Dec. 11, 2019, file photo, a Boeing 737 Max airplane being built for Norwegian Air International turns as it taxis for take off for a test flight at Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Wash. Boeing faces a growing checklist of items it could be forced to fix before federal safety officials let the grounded 737 Max airliner fly again. The Federal Aviation Administration recently asked Boeing to review all possible ramifications of the changes it is making on the plane.
Boeing Max Problems Grow
During an audit, Boeing discovered a problem with electrical wiring used for the plane's controls.
Jan 6th, 2020