SpaceX made headlines late in 2015 when the company landed a Falcon9 rocket back on land last December 22, 2015. The rocket successfully accomplished its mission of putting 11 small satellites for Orbcomm's satellite network. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, triumphantly gushed about the historic feat on his official twitter account saying:
"11 satellites deployed to target orbit and Falcon has landed back at Cape Canaveral. Headed to LZ-1. Welcome back, baby!"
SpaceX has since announced that following the success of their December mission the company plans to launch yet another rocket and have it land safely back on earth - this time however the team would attempt to land in a ship at sea.
The rocket was subsequently launched last Saturday, January 17, 2015, from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was able to affix the U.S. and European-owned Jason 3 satellite 830 miles above the Earth. The satellite has been deployed in order to monitor the planet's ever-changing climate.
While SpaceX was successful in its primary mission, the rocket hit a few snags come the landing attempt. According to a tweet sent out by Musk last Sunday, the failure to land was a direct result of a leg lockout that did not properly deploy. The Falcon9 eventually tipped over and exploded.
"Definitely harder to land on a ship. Similar to an aircraft carrier vs land: much smaller target area, that's also translating & rotating. However, that was not what prevented it being good. Touchdown speed was ok, but a leg lockout didn't latch, so it tipped over after landing" explained Musk.
Musk has since confirmed that his company would be engaging in more attempts in landing their rockets on ships out on the sea. He however has yet to announce when the next launch would take place.