SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket on Friday, April 8 at 4:43 p.m. ET. The company's Dragon spacecraft — which is filled with 7,000 pounds of cargo and an inflatable room to be delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) — was also aboard.
The SpaceX control room erupted into cheers as the main engine cut off, signalling a successful liftoff. The weather was perfect for launch at the site in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
"So far, this mission is proceeding completely nominally at this point," one of the SpaceX commentators said shortly after take-off on the live stream.
Though Elon Musk's company successfully launched a high-flying communications satellite in March 2016, SpaceX's last resupply mission to the ISS in June 2015 ended in a fiery rocket explosion shortly after takeoff.
The stakes were high Friday for this important flight.
What's on board?
The Dragon space capsule is carrying 7,000 pounds' worth of food, supplies, and science experiments to the ISS.
Also aboard the spacecraft is an inflatable habitat called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM for short.
The expandable space hotel is a prototype for what could eventually be used as shelter during missions to Mars.
The idea is surprisingly simple: If space habitats can launch compactly and inflate later on, we can get many of them into space, providing astronauts with extra room for their journeys.
A robotic arm will place the BEAM onto a free port of the space station after it arrives at the ISS on Sunday. From there, the crew will inflate and test the room.
Live mice are also aboard the Dragon. Astronauts will use them to test drugs that restore muscle mass and function. Such a drug could help astronauts in space and the elderly on Earth ward off shrinking muscle mass.
The Dragon is also carrying some seeds (for the astronaut's space vegetable garden), live bacteria (to study how pathogens might affect astronauts' health during deep-space missions), and a student project (to study crew DNA to see how it changes in space).
What's special about this launch?
Once the Falcon 9 rocket successfully lofted the Dragon spacecraft into orbit, SpaceX made history by being the first to land the rocket back down on a droneship (called, "Of Course I Still Love You") which was bobbing in the Atlantic Ocean.
—SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 8, 2016
The last time SpaceX attempted to land a rocket stage on a ship, it crashed (though that was expected, given that the landing is exceedingly complicated and the feat was experimental).
Elon Musk even publicly stated his limited expectations:
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2016
But Friday's launch had a much more auspicious fate.
Successfully sticking the landing of part of SpaceX's $60-$65 million rocket has just potentially saved the company millions of dollars, especially when it gears up for another launch.
Reusable rockets could revolutionize spaceflight by making costly launches more affordable, especially for public space agencies like NASA. This success may also help usher in a new era of space tourism for civilians.
