SpaceX successfully performs its 20th rocket landing in Florida
What goes up, must come down, and SpaceX is proving that again and again with their rockets.
The Elon Musk-founded company just completed its 20th successful rocket landing at a pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Friday.
SEE ALSO:Yes, it's true: SpaceX is sending a Tesla Roadster to Mars aboard the Falcon HeavyThe Falcon 9 rocket took flight at 10:36 a.m. ET, carrying an uncrewed Dragon capsule loaded down with supplies and experiments to the International Space Station for NASA.
Via GiphyThe Friday launch is SpaceX's 17th launch of the year, extending its record for most launches by the company in a year.
This launch was special in a few different ways.
First of all, the first stage of the Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule had both been to space before. The rocket first launched in June, and the Dragon first visited the Space Station in 2015.
Via GiphyThe launch also marks a return to Space Launch Complex 40 for SpaceX. That launchpad was seriously damaged when a Falcon 9 exploded during what should have been a routine test ahead of a launch in 2016.
Since that time, SpaceX has bounced back, using Pad 39A as its launch site while Launch Complex 40 was being repaired.
Pad 39A will serve as the launch site for the first launch of the company's huge new Falcon Heavy rocket, which is expected to perform its first test flight in January 2018.
Via GiphyReusability is a huge part of SpaceX's business plan moving forward. The company hinges its success on its ability to rapidly reuse rockets and spacecraft they bring back after multiple missions to orbit.
SpaceX isn't the only company working toward reusability.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin is also framing its business around rapid reuse of rockets to suborbital and orbital space in the future.
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TopicsSpaceXElon Musk
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