SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 rocket Monday for the first time, a major milestone in the drive to cut costs and waste by making rockets as reusable as airplanes. The Falcon 9 made a graceful arc back to Earth and touched down upright at Cape Canaveral, Fla., minutes after launching a payload of satellites to orbit, video images showed. SpaceX, headed by Internet tycoon Elon Musk, is striving to revolutionize the rocket industry, which currently loses many millions of dollars in jettisoned machinery and sophisticated rocket components after each launch. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's rocket company Blue Origin announced last month it had successfully landed its New Shepard rocket after a suborbital flight. (Source: Space Daily, 12/22/15) Previous. Gulf Coast note: SpaceX is testing new generation engines at Stennis Space Center, Miss., where Blue Origin has also done tests.
NEWS: A digest of aerospace, defense and technology news from the Gulf Coast I-10 region
