New Delhi: California-based space firm SpaceX launched a commercial communications satellite for South Korea, the KoreaSat 5A and then landed the rocket on a floating drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
However, the landing of the rocket was quite 'heated' as a video footage of the landing showed Falcon 9 rocket’s base engulfed in flames and smoke.
A SpaceX two-stage Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellite was flagged-off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
As the fire from the rocket's base began to enter the frame, the feed was momentarily cut-off, but came on again, showing the rocket standing on the ship with smoke billowing from its bottom part.
The fire was eventually extinguished.
As per a report in the Express UK, John Federspiel, SpaceX's Lead Mechanical Engineer, said: “A little toasty, but stage one is certainly still intact on the drone ship.”
(Video Courtesy - SpaceX)
Till date, SpaceX has returned and landed a Falcon 9's first stage 19 times on land and at sea.
Such landings are part of SpaceX's efforts to develop fully reusable rockets, which the California-based company believed could bring down spaceflight costs.
