Falcon 9 Flight 23

Falcon 9 Flight 23's first stage landed on a drone ship

Falcon 9 Flight 23, also known as CRS-8 which was the payload designator, was a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch that occurred on 8 April 2016 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station SLC-40.[1] The launch was notable as the first successful vertical sea landing of an orbital booster rocket on a floating platform by any organization.[2] SpaceX had made four attempts to land on previous flight tests.[2][3]

The landing was the second successful landing achieved by a SpaceX orbital launch vehicle. SpaceX first landed a Falcon 9 on solid ground at Cape Canaveral Landing Zone 1 with Flight 20 on 22 December 2015.[4]

Port arrival

After successfully landing, the stage arrived at Port Canaveral, Florida at 12 April 2016 (local),[5] where it was offloaded from the autonomous spaceport drone ship. As of 12 April 2016, the stage was positioned vertical at Port Canaveral.[6] SpaceX plans to keep the first stage of Falcon 9 Flight 23 in Cape Canaveral, opting to conduct a series of test fires to ensure that the vehicle is ready for a future operational mission.[6] According to CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk, the rocket will likely be test-fired at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39.[7] Musk noted that assuming the test fires went well, the stage would likely be reflown for a mission in June 2016.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "SpaceX rocket booster makes breakthrough landing at sea". Reuters. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  2. 1 2 Drake, Nadia (April 8, 2016). "SpaceX Rocket Makes Spectacular Landing on Drone Ship". National Geographic. Retrieved April 8, 2016. To space and back, in less than nine minutes? Hello, future.
  3. ↑ Clark, S]] tephen. "SpaceX lands rocket on ocean-going drone ship – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  4. ↑ Davenport, Christian (2016-04-08). "Elon Musk’s SpaceX nails landing at sea". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  5. ↑ Dean, James (2016-04-12). "SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket arrives at Port Canaveral". Florida Today. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  6. 1 2 Bergin, Chris (2016-04-12). "Falcon 9 first stage sails into Port Canaveral atop ASDS – ahead of big plans". www.nasaspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  7. 1 2 Clark, Stephen. "SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket returns to port – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2016-04-13.
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