SpaceX is returning to Florida this month for its second launch this year. This is a planned space mission, the purpose of which is to deliver a communications spacecraft into orbit.
The SES base in Luxembourg reported that it was seeking to launch its satellite SES-9 on February 24 from the station at Cape Air Force Canaveral in Florida.
To deliver the SES-9 satellite to its direct orbit, the first stage of the Falcon rocket (Falcon) must move at high speed in order to try to land back to the launch pad. That is, it is an attempt to repeat the feat SpaceX, which arrived in December. Instead, SpaceX will again attempt to land on a platform located in the ocean.
“A landing ship is needed for missions at high speeds. Height and distance do not mean too much to the orbit. All the salt is in speed, ”writes the founder of SpaceX and the main singer Elon Musk on Twitter. “It’s just physically impossible to get him back to the launch pad,” he added.
Three previous attempts to put SpaceX into the ocean failed, although in January, during the last trial, they came very close. After sending the ocean-monitoring satellite - Jason-3 into its orbit, the first part of the Falcon-9 landed on a platform in the Pacific Ocean, but then one of the four landing legs of the rocket changed direction and turned over. The accelerator exploded when it hit the barge.
Max said he expects to adhere to about 70% of rocket landings this year, and also to improve the system of successful missions by 90% in 2017.
“It’s definitely harder to land on a ship,” Musk added on Twitter.
This will be the second launch of SES and it is scheduled for 2016.
