SpaceX lost a rocket booster during landing for the first time since 2016
A SpaceX booster stage crashed into the ocean during an attempt to land at Cape Canaveral Wednesday (Dec. 5), after it launched a supply spacecraft to the International Space Station.
The brand-new Falcon 9 rocket booster lifted off successfully, but as the first stage—which contains nine Merlin engines and the bulk of the rocket’s structure—returned to land, it lost control and crashed into the Atlantic ocean.
Wednesday’s landing snafu involved a “block 5” Falcon 9 booster, which is designed to be re-used at least 10 times.
Quartz