Bad weather scrubbed a SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral on Sunday morning, but the commercial space company continued a second mission, scheduled for launch that evening.
Conditions improved just before takeoff at 4:19 p.m. (7:19 p.m. Florida time), and the Falcon 9 missile managed to reach both a rare flight path and a landing from Florida.
It has become a routine to watch one of SpaceX's workhorse rockets explode and then watch the first stage booster return for a soft landing aboard an autonomous drone off the coast of the Atlantic. However, that mission involved the rare return of a Falcon 9 straight to land.
About eight minutes after take-off, the rocket landed precisely in landing zone 1 (LZ-1), which is only about 11 km from the launch pad.
Meanwhile, the rocket's second stage engine put the Argentine Saocom 1B earth observation satellite into orbit.
SpaceX has only had one more landing as part of one in the past 12 months Supply mission to the International Space Station on March 7th. Several factors play a role in whether SpaceX lands on land or on a drone ship. A critical factor is the trajectory and how far the missile is from shore once it is separated from the second stage missile.
The Falcon 9 flew a rare polar trajectory towards South Pole Sunday. After takeoff, the Falcon 9 circled the Florida coast and allowed the ground pad to land. This is the first orbital launch from Florida using this southern polar corridor since 1960.
The launch was originally scheduled for Thursday, however Delays in the independent launch of a spy satellite from Cape Canaveral had a ripple effect that led to the shift.
Also included are two smaller spaceships, a commercial radar satellite called Sequoia and a weather data satellite called Gnomes-1.
The SpaceX launch of the Saocom 1A companion satellite in 2018 was also unveiled a floor mat, but at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. This launch was originally intended to be from the west coast as well, but was eventually relocated to Florida and was delayed in part thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Starlink mission, which was scheduled for Sunday morning, will now be the next SpaceX mission and is scheduled for Tuesday at 6:29 a.m. PT.
