SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday morning, the sixth time in the last eight months, as the commercial space agency continues to perfect the science of reusable rockets.
After successfully launching a JCSAT-16 commercial communications satellite into space from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket returned to earth nine minutes later, stated Space.com.
The rocket stuck the landing on the deck of a robotic ship, called "Of Course I Still Love You," stationed in the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred miles off the Florida coast.
Market Watch reported that it was SpaceX's fourth successful vertical landing of a used Falcon 9 rocket on a floating platform at sea. Two other landings came on land.
"The ability to launch, land, refurbish, and relaunch rockets with the reliability of an airliner is widely seen as crucial if humanity is to become a truly spacefaring civilization," Pete Spotts of the Christian Science Monitor wrote in December. "By shifting from expendable rockets to reusable rockets, launch costs are expected to drop significantly, reducing the price tag for putting payloads and people in space."
SpaceX, which had failed to safely land its Falcon 9 rocket three times this year, appears to be on a winning streak with the latest success, noted Space.com.
SpaceX shared its success in a series of Twitter posts.