SpaceX Crashes And Burns For Third Time At Sea With Falcon 9 Reusable Rocket

by Brandon Hill — Sunday, January 17, 2016, 04:50 PM EDT

SpaceX looked to pop open the champagne bottles with a successful landing at sea following its landmark ground landing last month. However, an unscathed landing at sea has eluded SpaceX once again. We must start off by saying that SpaceX’s primary mission, to launch NASA’s Jason-3 ocean-monitoring satellite into orbit, was a success.

However the the first stage Falcon 9 rocket once again failed to land upright and intact on its floating barge platform. At this point, we don’t have video footage of the landing, but SpaceX took to Twitter to write:

First stage on target at droneship but looks like hard landing; broke landing leg. Primary mission remains nominal → https://t.co/tdni53IviI
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 17, 2016

According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the 10- to 13-foot waves that caused the landing platform to visibly bob up and down rather dramatically prior to Falcon 9’s approach were not the cause for this third failure. Rather, it was a vehicle malfunction that caused SpaceX’s third at-sea landing goose egg:

However, that was not what prevented it being good. Touchdown speed was ok, but a leg lockout didn't latch, so it tipped over after landing.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 17, 2016

Well, at least the pieces were bigger this time! Won't be last RUD, but am optimistic about upcoming ship landing. pic.twitter.com/w007TccANJ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 17, 2016

For those keeping score, the January 2015 mishap was caused by the Falcon 9 approaching the landing platform at a higher than expected rate of speed. The second failure, which occurred in April 2015, was caused by the vehicle having “excess lateral velocity,” causing it to tip over and "falcon punch" the floating barge.

This latest upset, however, will do little to stop SpaceX from trying to perfect its first stage landings at sea. After all, SpaceX was unable to secure clearance for a ground landing at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, so it had no choice but to take a dip in the ocean. In addition, sea landings are a much more viable recovery method for high-velocity missions.

Despite this latest setback, SpaceX is still poised to help revolutionize space travel with its reusable rockets. And given this supportive tweet from Amazon CEO (and Blue Origin founder) Jeff Bezos, SpaceX has plenty of fans to help rally its cause:

Impressive launch and @SpaceX will soon make Falcon 9 landings routine – so good for space! Kudos SpaceX!
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) January 17, 2016

Tags: NASA, Elon Musk, SpaceX, falcon 9

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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