SpaceX has once again come close to landing a reusable launch vehicle. This time, the Falcoln 9 seems to descend and land upright on a pad, then topple over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Looks like Falcon landed fine, but excess lateral velocity caused it to tip over post landing,” tweeted SpaceX founder Elon Musk shortly after the failed attempt on April 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President and COO, told Defense News<\/a> that the company hopes its next attempted landing will take place on land, not at sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The instability of a floating landing pad has led to the series of near-misses, she said. The landing tests have so far taken place at sea for safety reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Just purely the boat moving, even in a low sea state, it’s hard to imagine that vehicle is going to stay vertical,” Shotwell said. “That vehicle is big and tall, compared to the itty-bity-greater-than-a-football-field-size ship.” (Watch video here, or see another version on YouTu<\/a>b<\/a>e<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n