22nd December 2015 SpaceX rocket achieves historic vertical landing Following previous failed attempts, U.S. company SpaceX headed by Elon Musk has achieved a historic milestone in space flight by landing an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket vertically. This achievement paves the way to a new generation of reusable rockets – greatly reducing the cost of access to space. The rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, delivering 11 communications satellites into low Earth orbit for the Orbcomm-2 mission before returning 10 minutes later about 9.65km (6 miles) south of its launch pad, where it landed in an upright position at 8:39 pm EST.
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