SpaceX rocket meant to be destroyed somehow survives

SpaceX had a delightful surprise on Wednesday.

The private spaceflight company launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with Luxembourg’s first military satellite, GovSat-1, in tow.

The satellite, to be used for secure communications over sea and humanitarian operations, was successfully deployed 32 minutes into its flight. 

But in that time, something rather remarkable happened: A Falcon 9 first stage booster survived its water landing in the Atlantic Ocean. That wasn’t supposed to happen. 

In fact, the booster appears to be relatively intact, and now SpaceX will try to bring the rocket back to shore. Read more…

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