A Falcon 9 first stage lands after an orbital launch
node
After delivering eleven Orbcomm satellites toward orbit, the Falcon 9 first stage performed a boostback burn, re-entered and landed vertically at Landing Zone 1 on Cape Canaveral. It was the first recovery of an orbital-class booster that had actually contributed to placing a payload in orbit. Nothing about the economics changed that night — the stage was never reflown, and was preserved — but the central assumption of the launch industry, that the vehicle is consumed by the mission, had been falsified in public.
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Evidence · 2
Timeline
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Connections · 4
- Reusable orbital launchconcerns
- Landing Zone 1, Cape Canaveralconcerns
- Falcon 9concerns
- Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)concerns
Assembled narrative · 1
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Observed changes · 0
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