A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully sent a communications satellite into orbit early Friday morning. And as an added bonus for the space startup, they were also yet again successful at landing the first stage of the rocket on a robotic barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
This is the fourth successful launch of a Falcon 9 in the year 2016. The rocket's primary mission was to deliver a communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. SpaceX's customer for this delivery was SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. The satellite is a successor to a current satellite in SKY Perfect JSAT's fleet, and it will be used to provide communications services to its customers in Asia and Oceania.
Just a few minutes after the launch, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on one of SpaceX's droneships in the Atlantic ocean. This is the second successful ocean landing of a Falcon 9 first stage, and the third successful post-mission landing for the company overall. It plans to reuse a first stage from April's landing in a later launch.
The company is making a push for the reusability of its rockets in order to reduce its overall launch costs. The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket is the most expensive part, so the ability to reuse it would allow SpaceX to significantly reduce the cost of each launch.
Due to the nature of this launch, SpaceX didn't necessarily expect a perfect landing. In a tweet prior to launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the "odds of making it are maybe even" because the rocket was descending at a faster speed than the prior successful landing.
Upon seeing that landing, Musk simply tweeted, "Woohoo!"
