On June 28, everything was normal for about 2 minutes and 18 seconds when Elon Musk's SpaceX launched its latest unmanned Falcon 9 rocket tasked with delivering cargo to the International Space Station. One second later the rocket exploded.
Nasa's unmanned @SpaceX [5] rocket explodes at start of #ISScargo [6] supply mission pic.twitter.com/ZmJ6cNJE2Q [7]
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 28, 2015 [8]
Since then there was an orbital hiatus at Elon Musk's rocket company until tonight, when in a few minutes, a new SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set to deliver 11 satellites to low-Earth orbit for ORBCOMM, a Machine-to-Machine communication and Internet of Things solutions.
The ORBCOMM launch is targeted for an evening launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. If all goes as planned, the 11 satellites will be deployed approximately 20 minutes after liftoff, completing a 17-satellite, low Earth orbit constellation for ORBCOMM.
Perhaps just as importantly, this mission also marks SpaceX’s return-to-flight as well as its first attempt to land a first stage on land. The landing of the first stage is a secondary test objective.
Update:
The Falcon 9 first stage landing is confirmed. Second stage continuing nominally. pic.twitter.com/RX2QKSl0z7 [9]
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 22, 2015 [10]
