8 Years Ago, Musk's SpaceX Landed A Rocket Stage Back On Earth For The First Time

Elon Musk‘s rocket manufacturing company SpaceX on Thursday reminisced about its first orbital class rocket landing from 8 years ago.

What Happened: On Dec. 21, 2015, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket flew from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the booster landed back on Earth safe and sound for the first time, reaffirming the company’s vision for rocket reusability and making the Falcon 9 the first orbital class rocket capable of re-flight.

It was the first time the company had managed to land a booster. In a previous attempt, the booster had crashed and exploded.

Why It Matters: SpaceX relies on the reusability of its rocket stages to drive down the cost of space exploration, unlike most rockets which are designed to burn up on re-entering Earth’s orbit.

In July this year, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk drew a parallel between rockets and other transport technologies and noted that no one would buy a single-use airplay, car, or bicycle. “They need to go all-in on reusability or be utterly uncompetitive,” Musk said, referring to rival rocket makers.

Since its first landing, SpaceX has landed Falcon rockets more than 250 times in the past 8 years.

The Falcon 9 is 70 meters tall and capable of carrying about 22,800 kgs to low-Earth orbit. At sea level, it generates over 1.7 million pounds of thrust.

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