May 062016
 

A Falcon 9 first stage successfully landed on a barge out at sea after launching a satellite to geostationary. This was a high-velocity mission that SpaceX did not have high hopes of a successful landing for, yet they succeeded anyway.

This is the third successful landing of a Falcon 9 booster, the second on a barge. The two barge-recovered boosters are to be re-launched at some point. And at some point, the landing and recovery of a space launch rocket will become ho-hum boring. And that will be *awesome.* Because the transformation of a NASA program into boring means a loss of public interest and very likely a program cut; a transformation of a private program into boring means economic success and increased profits and utilization.

Coming soon: the launch of a Falcon 9 Heavy with two boosters, with simultaneous recovery. And at some point, the attempted recovery of a Falcon 9 Heavy second stage. Recovery of one of those would be a whole new level of technical challenge.

 Posted by at 6:45 am