See SpaceX blast a satellite into orbit, nail rocket landing on a drone ship

For the 18th time this year, SpaceX has successfully launched to space.

After lifting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center along the Florida coast at 3:46 p.m. on Thursday, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket delivered a communications satellite, Es’hail-2, into orbit for its latest customer, the nation of Qatar. 

About 10 minutes later, the rocket booster — which contains nine expensive, SpaceX-made Merlin engines — descended through the atmosphere and landed in the Atlantic Ocean on the Elon Musk-named droneship “Of Course I Still Love You.” 

This marks the booster’s second trip to space and back again. It’s also the 31st time the company has managed to land a rocket back on Earth after flying to space. Read more…

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Source: Mashable | See SpaceX blast a satellite into orbit, nail rocket landing on a drone ship