Falcon 9 flight 20Falcon 9 flight 20 (also known as Orbcomm OG2 M2) was a Falcon 9 space launch that occurred on 22 December 2015 at 01:29:00 UTC (21 December, 8:29:00 pm local time). It was the first time that the first stage of an orbital rocket made a successful return and vertical landing. The successful landing of the first stage at Landing Zone 1, near the launch site, was the result of a five-year technology development program to develop a reusable launch system and came on a flight test that followed the primary launch mission.
Falcon 9 Full ThrustFalcon 9 Full Thrust (also known as Falcon 9 v1.2, with variants Block 1 to Block 5) is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Designed in 2014–2015, Falcon 9 Full Thrust began launch operations in December 2015. As of , Falcon 9 Full Thrust had performed launches without any failures. Based on the Lewis point estimate of reliability, this rocket is the most reliable orbital launch vehicle currently in operation.
Autonomous spaceport drone shipAn autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform, and is autonomously positioned when on station for a landing. Construction of the drone ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow recovery of launch vehicle boosters at sea for missions that do not carry sufficient fuel to return to the launch site after boosting spacecraft onto an orbital or interplanetary trajectory.
Falcon 9Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. It can also be used as an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle. The first Falcon 9 launch was in June 2010. The first Falcon 9 ISS commercial resupply mission to the ISS launched on 8 October 2012. In 2020 it became the first commercial rocket to ever launch humans to orbit and is currently the only such vehicle capable of doing so.
