Musk tweeted a vine depicting the slip.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2015
Despite the spectacular light show, many considered the “landing” successful because the rocket was able to make contact with the target platform on a barge after being launched 50 miles above Earth’s surface.
— Brigitte Bailleul (@Brigitte_Ba) January 16, 2015
Musk said in a tweet that SpaceX has pinpointed the problem to be the hydraulic fuel located within the tailfin, which allows Falcon 9 to rotate and spin. The company discovered that the tailfin ran out of fuel and could no longer stabilize itself.
Reusable rocket technology could drastically cut the cost of spaceflight travel.
Space X plans on using the same drone barge for their next launch on January 29.
