SpaceX has demonstrated its first on-shore rocket landing since March 2020, successfully deploying the Saocom 1B Earth-observation satellite for the CONAE Space Agency of Argentina, as well as a commercial radar imaging for California-based Capitol Space Satellite and weather data satellite for Colorado-based PlanetiQ. These deployments are part of SpaceX’s recently launched SmallSat rideshare program.
The Falcon 9 rocket departed Cape Canaveral in Florida on Sunday, August 30 in PT, the fourth outing for this particular booster.
lift off! pic.twitter.com/AIwrMzB3D1
& Mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 30, 2020
For the past five months, the first phase of SpaceX Falcon 9 boosters has been returning to one of its drone ships stationed at sea off the Florida coast, but the flight trajectory of Sunday’s mission meant the booster would be down to land.
Precisely eight minutes after launch, the Falcon 9 rocket scored a perfect touchdown, captured a video and posted it to SpaceX’s Twitter account.
The SpaceX controller said that you cannot ask for a better landing.
The first phase of Falcon 9 has landed at Landing Zone 1 pic.twitter.com/0y5FkVqPk8
& Mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 30, 2020
Shortly thereafter, the commercial space company led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk posted a video showing the successful deployment of Argentina’s Socom BB satellite.
SAOCOM 1B confirmed deployment pic.twitter.com/gqtxQMpy48
& Mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 30, 2020
We are still waiting for the news whether SpaceX has managed to capture rocket fairing parts in its net-equipped ships, and we will update this piece as soon as we know.
SpaceX was planning two launches on Sunday, but poor weather conditions forced it to launch in the morning of another Falcon 9 rocket loaded with another batch of Starlink broadband satellites. The mission has now been rescheduled for Tuesday 1 September.
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