Falcon 9 space launch that occurred on 22 December 2015 at 01:29:00 UTC
Falcon 9 flight 20
Official patch for Orbcomm-OG2 mission
Falcon 9 Full Thrust launch
Launch
22 December 2015; 8 years ago (22 December 2015), 01:29:00 UTC
Operator
SpaceX
Pad
Cape Canaveral, SLC-40
Payload
Orbcomm-OG2 × 11
Outcome
Success
Components
First stage
B1019.1
Falcon launches
← Flight 19
Flight 21 →
Falcon 9 flight 20 (also known as Orbcomm OG2 M2)[1] 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.[2][3][4][5]
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. Following separation of the second stage, SpaceX conducted the eighth of its controlled booster descent tests of the spent first stage, the first in which the descent target location was on land, and also the first ever successful landing.
Prior to this flight, SpaceX's two previous attempts at a vertical landing and booster recovery ended in failure to recover the rocket.[6][7] The success of flight 20 marked a significant milestone en route to the company's goal of creating a reusable rocket system that would significantly reduce the cost of launching payloads into orbit.[8][9]
Falcon 9 flight 20 was the first launch of the substantially upgraded Falcon 9 Full Thrust version of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. It carried 11 Orbcomm-OG2 satellites to Earth orbit. The launch was also notable as it was the first SpaceX launch following the catastrophic failure of a Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle's second stage on Falcon 9 Flight 19 in June 2015.
^"2015 U.S. Space Launch Manifest". americaspace.com. AmericaSpace. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
^Jeff Foust (21 December 2015). "Falcon 9 Launches Orbcomm Satellites, Lands First Stage". SpaceNews. Retrieved 22 December 2015. the first time SpaceX had successfully landed the rocket's first stage.
^Cite error: The named reference sfn20151210 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"SpaceX Shooting for a December 19 Falcon Return-to-flight Launch". SpaceNews. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
^Wagstaff, Keith; Coldewey, Devin (22 December 2015). "SpaceX Makes History: Falcon 9 Launches, Lands Vertically". NBC News. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
^Kramer, Miriam (12 January 2015). "SpaceX's Elon Musk Says Rocket Landing Test Ran Out of Hydraulic Fluid". SPACE.com. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^Guy Norris (16 April 2015). "SpaceX Checks Throttle Valve After Flawed Falcon 9 Recovery Attempt".
^"In historic first, SpaceX lands first reusable rocket". Al Jazeera. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
^Simberg, Rand (7 February 2012). "Elon Musk on SpaceX's Reusable Rocket Plans". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
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