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HOT HOVERSHIP-ON-HOVERSHIP ACTION: SpaceX ready for barge boing

Primary task of ISS resupply almost dull in comparison

SpaceX will be launching a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station this evening. It will be the seventeeth Falcon 9 launch - and SpaceX are attempting to land the first stage in a controlled vertical descent to a floating platform once again.

Were the rockets – typically jettisoned once the primary stage of rocket launch has been reached – to be successfully returned, it would suggest the ability to slash launch costs for space travel significantly.

An unmanned Dragon spacecraft will crown the Falcon 9 stack, which is set to launch at 16:33 ET, or 21:33 BST, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It will be the sixth of 12 delivery missions that SpaceX was contracted to perform by NASA in 2010 for $1.6bn.

The launch will be SpaceX's third attempt to land a Falcon 9 rocket stage on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. The first attempt in January saw many of the test objectives achieved. However, the grid fin control system used for more precise re-entry positioning ran out of hydraulic fluid a minute before landing, resulting in a crash.

A second test flight in February made a descent in inclement weather to an over-ocean landing within 10m of its intended target. Elon Musk described it as "Close, but no cigar".

SpaceX has made 16 Falcon 9 launches since 2010, the most recent on 2 March. After today's launch, there are ten more provisionally contracted to take place this year. ®

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