SpaceX Successfully Lands Rocket On Sea Droneship For First Time

SpaceX has made history, successfully landing one of its rockets on a droneship in the ocean. A video shows the rocket pulling off a perfect landing, gracefully sliding down out of the sky and onto the landing pad, no hiccups or issues to be seen. This marks a first for the company; President Obama chimed in to congratulate it, saying, "It's because of innovators like you & NASA that America continues to lead in space exploration."

The landing resulted in a loud round of cheers after, finally, the company successfully pulled off a landing at sea. SpaceX has attempted this many times, each time resulting in failure, though improvements were obvious. The droneship is about the side of a football field, and is positioned in the Atlantic Ocean; on Friday, the rocket's first stage landed perfectly after a resupply launch for the International Space Station.

After the successful landing, SpaceX's Elon Musk said, "It's another step toward the stars. In order for us to really open up access to space we have to have full and rapid reusability." Ultimately, such landings are a key part of slimming down costs for the private company and others like it.

Until now, these first stages have been allowed to drop into the ocean following a rocket launch. Reusing the first stages would mark a huge change in how such launches take place, and they make SpaceX all the more attractive for future space missions.

SOURCE: Twitter