Updated: December 20, 2015, 3:57 P.M. EST
SpaceX has delayed Sunday night's launch, meaning we'll have to wait one more day to see if Elon Musk's company can be the first to launch a rocket into orbit and land safely back on earth.
Musk announced the delay on Twitter, citing better a projection for better conditions on Monday. The launch is reportedly slated for 8:33 P.M. EST.
Just reviewed mission params w SpaceX team. Monte Carlo runs show tmrw night has a 10% higher chance of a good landing. Punting 24 hrs.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2015
SpaceX is trying to make history by launching a payload into space and then having its rocket booster return safely to land.
And thanks to the Internet, you can watch it unfold. SpaceX is going to be live streaming the launch. Check out this link Monday night for some rocket goodness. The launch will be live streamed, but we'll have to wait to see footage of the landing.
[seealso slug=http://sale-online.click/2015/12/19/falcon9-land-landing/%5D%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3ESpaceX founder Elon Musk teased the launch on Saturday.
Currently looking good for a Sunday night (~8pm local) attempted orbital launch and rocket landing at Cape Canaveral— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2015
Rockets are rarely reusable. Most times they blast something into space and then fall into the ocean. That makes them very expensive, since these incredibly complex machines are only used once.
SpaceX and Blue Origin, which is backed by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, have both been working on making rockets that can be recovered after launch. Bezos and Musk have actually been in something of a rocket-measuring contest over it.
In November, Blue Origin successfully launched a rocket into space and then recovered it. The rocket, called New Shepard, took a payload a bit more than 100 kilometers from earth and then returned for a nice, soft landing. It was a major achievement, but one that Musk is hoping to best on Sunday.
Shepard made a suborbital trip, meaning the spacecraft never quite achieved the speed or height necessary to qualify for a truly orbital trip. The SpaceX launch is projected to go into orbit, which would one-up Bezos and Blue Origin and be the first orbital rocket to be recovered.
This is a tough business. In June, SpaceX tried a similar feat, only to have its Falcon 9 rocket explode over the coast of Florida. These trips are uncrewed, so nobody was hurt.