Private space-transport services company SpaceX had to abort an attempt to achieve an unprecedented feat this Tuesday, Jan. 6.
The scrubbed experiment is a crucial step to fulfilling the company's goal of building and using the first reusable rocket.
With less than two minutes to go before liftoff, the launch was aborted due to the discovery of an issue with the rocket's actuator drift. This component would have affected the motors needed to control the thrust of the rocket's second stage.
The company's CEO, Elon Musk, said that reusing rockets that cost millions to build would significantly lower the cost of space travel. The billionaire believes that his company would make this possible provided he can get a rocket that has been launched into space to land on a floating platform in the ocean.
SpaceX scrubbed the attempt to launch an unmanned Dragon capsule carrying supplies for scientists stationed at the International Space Station (ISS). After the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket and the capsule were to separate, the first stage of the rocket would have turned around and positioned itself in an attempt to land itself on a free-floating barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
Called the autonomous spaceport drone ship, the platform measures 300 feet long and 170 feet wide, a relatively small spot for the 14-story tall rocket with an initial speed of 1,300 meters per second, but SpaceX has designed the rocket to have retro-propulsion jets, so its descent gradually slows down until it touches down on the barge. The rocket was also fitted with a set of steering fins and landing legs to help it reach its target platform safely.
Until now, first stage rockets are not recovered to be used again; they simply end up as trash in the ocean. The attempt to safely land the first stage of the rocket to be reused is a gamble, with SpaceX admitting that the chances of success are only 50 percent. The company said that it already had two successful soft water landings, but the latest attempt to execute a precise landing on an unanchored ocean barge on Tuesday posed significantly more challenges.
The landing experiments may eventually lead to much affordable space missions. The company, however, remains optimistic even as it hopes to collect data that could increase chances of a successful launch of reusable rockets.
"The odds of success are not great -- perhaps 50% at best. However, this test represents the first in a series of similar tests that will ultimately deliver a fully reusable Falcon 9 first stage," SpaceX said in an statement describing the chances of success of the scrubbed mission. "Though the probability of success on this test is low, we expect to gather critical data to support future landing testing."
