New Delhi: SpaceX has successfully launched two rockets into orbit but sadly, has failed in the attempt to recover its Falcon 9 rocket.
It failed in an attempt to land the first stage of its rock undamaged on a barge in the Atlantic.
Apparently, the rocket malfunctioned some 330 feet (70 meters) off the ground and was in flames when it reached the platform on the powered barge known as a drone ship live images via a SpaceX webcast showed.
“Ascent phase & satellites look good, but booster rocket had a RUD on droneship,” SpaceX chief Elon Musk wrote on Twitter using an acronym for “rapid unscheduled disassembly,” or explosion.
The rocket shook the barge when it landed, causing the ship’s camera to freeze. The final images showed the craft standing upright, enveloped in flames and thick smoke.
The rocket earlier successfully boosted into orbit a communications satellite for the French firm Eutelsat and another for Bermuda-based ABS.
The launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral took place at 10:29 am (1429 GMT) and the satellites deployed around 30 minutes later.
It was SpaceX’s sixth launch of the year. Wednesday’s failure ends a recent streak of landing successes.
AFP