SpaceX is preparing to land its Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Florida, for the first time since the launch of the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket in May 2011.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 first stage blasted off from Kennedy on Sunday afternoon, after landing the rocket on a barge and transferring the rocket to a ship, according to SpaceX.
The company says that the rocket will now land safely in a bayside dock at the Florida coast, while it undergoes its “final checks and checks for damage”.
SpaceX is one of the few private companies to fly commercial satellites into orbit.
The launch of NASA’s Dragon capsule is SpaceX’s fourth mission to launch the company.
The rocket’s main goal is to return astronauts to Earth safely.
But the mission was delayed because of a lack of a firm cargo manifest.
SpaceX is also seeking an FAA waiver to allow it to begin loading and unloading the Falcon 9 booster at Cape Cod.
In April last year, NASA announced plans to replace the space shuttle with a new capsule that would fly more missions in space.
The Falcon 9, which has a gross weight of just over 2,000 metric tonnes, is more powerful than the shuttle and the first stage of the new spacecraft, which can lift up to 1.8 tonnes.
It is expected to be ready for launch by early 2019.
SpaceX’s launch of Falcon 9 will be SpaceX’s fifth launch of 2017.
It launched a Dragon capsule from Cape Canaveral on May 20.
