After Monday morning’s mission to launch a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared video of the first stage of the Falcon 9 coolly landing back on Earth at the LZ-1 landing pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The event marked the tenth time SpaceX has safely landed a rocket back on Earth after a mission; the first landing was back in April 2016. It was the fourth time SpaceX landed a rocket on LZ-1. The other six times the Falcon 9 safely returned to Earth involved the rocket booster landing on a floating droneship.
This was the first mission SpaceX has conducted for the NRO and part of the mission was shrouded in secrecy, as the live webcast didn’t show the entire mission as to not offer clues as far as where or what satellite was being deployed.
Musk also posted on Monday a close-up video of the first stage separating from its space-bound counterpart, flipping in the air, and returning to Earth:
The launch was originally scheduled for Sunday, but a “sensor issue” scrubbed the launch to shortly after 7 a.m. Monday.
