After Dragon launch, NASA will consider using the same Falcon 9 three times

Enlarge / An infrared view of the Falcon 9 first stage landing on Saturday morning. (credit: SpaceX)

3:30am ET Saturday Update: The Falcon 9 rocket launched on time early Saturday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, streaking into the nighttime sky and depositing the Cargo Dragon spacecraft into a good orbit. About 12 minutes after the launch, Dragon deployed its solar panels and set course for the International Space Station. Dragon will be captured by the station on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the rocket's first stage returned to the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, landing 28km downrange from the launch site. The nighttime landing sequence was visible through the use of an infrared camera, and looked pretty spectacular.

During the post-launch news conference for SpaceX's 17th mission to the International Space Station, the lab's Operations Integration Manager, Kenny Todd, explained the thinking behind the scrub of the Falcon 9 launch 24 hours earlier. SpaceX had said the launch was scrubbed because of an electrical issue with the droneship, which returned to port Friday, and then immediately headed back out to sea for the first stage landing.

Read 12 remaining paragraphs | Comments