Video credit: NASA TV
Flying with a reused first stage and a recycled Dragon supply ship, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Friday bound for the International Space Station on an unpiloted cargo delivery mission.
The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) Falcon 9 rocket launched from Complex 40 at 10:36 a.m. EST (1536 GMT) Friday. It was the first launch from the rebuilt facility since a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the pad in September 2016, forcing SpaceX to relocate its Florida flights to nearby pad 39A.
The Falcon 9’s first stage fired for nearly two-and-a-half minutes, propelling the Dragon cargo carrier toward orbit before making a pinpoint descent back to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station a few miles from pad 40.
Friday’s mission marked the 45th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, and the fourth with a reused first stage. The landing was the 20th time SpaceX has recovered one of its Falcon 9 boosters intact.
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