Incredible footage shows the moment a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster autonomously lands on Earth after a little jolly in space, having carefully lowered itself onto a small landing pad surrounded by water. Watch the video here:
The sped-up footage was shared on Twitter by impressed social media users, with one writing: “You have to pinch yourself but this is real. Falcon 9 booster autonomously landing from space to earth @elonmusk.”
Someone else said: “Never gets old seeing SpaceX's Falcon 9 land in the middle of the ocean @elonmusk.”
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The footage appears to be from the launch yesterday (Wednesday 9 March), which saw Falcon 9 launch 48 Starlink satellites into orbit before returning to the landing pad - a recovery droneship called A Shortfall Of Gravitas - at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX said of the Starlink mission on its website: “On Wednesday, March 9 at 8:45 a.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched 48 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
“This was the fourth launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched Arabsat-6A, STP-2, and COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2.”
After the mission, SpaceX confirmed that all 48 Starlink satellites had been deployed.
SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk recently answered Ukraine's calls for help, sending Starlink terminals to the nation.
Internet connectivity in Ukraine has been seriously affected by the Russian invasion, with Reuters reporting that southern and eastern parts of the country – where fighting has been at its heaviest – have been hit hardest.
According to the news agency, while satellite technology is costly to deploy, it can provide internet for people who live in rural or hard-to-serve places where fibre optic cables and even cell towers cannot reach.
At the end of last month, Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted Musk to call on his help, writing: “@elonmusk, while you try and colonize Mars – Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space – Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.”
Musk later replied: "Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route."
And he was true to his word, with Federov sharing a photo of the shipment and thanking Musk on Monday 28 February.
Commenting on the tweet, Musk responded: "You are most welcome."
Topics: Technology, SpaceX
Jess Hardiman