A steady crowd is gathering at Port Canaveral to see close up part of a SpaceX rocket that made a successful landing just days ago.

Falcon 9 booster returned to Space Coast late Monday night

The rocket was the 2nd to successfully land on a floating barge

Onlookers can watch crews work on the rocket at Port Canaveral



The Falcon 9 booster, the second to successfully land on the barge, arrived around 10 p.m. Monday on the autonomous spaceport drone ship.

Dave Keller drove all the way from Sarasota to see a piece of space history before it's hauled off to be used again.

"I mean, where else can you be a couple hundred yards from people working on a rocket?" he said. "It's inspiring to see what these guys are doing."

Keller isn't the only one taking in the sights along the port. A steady stream of curious onlookers has set up shop with a stellar view of the rocket.

"It has a lot of people talking," says Grills owner Joe Penovich.

Port restaurants like Grills have the welcome mat open for viewing the rocket. They have an ideal deck to see all the action, and business is up with people coming by marvel at it.

"It's been great for our business, and I'm excited for the industry," said Penovich.

"American ingenuity, and it's great to see us out front," adds Keller.

The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 1:21 a.m. Friday. The rocket delivered a satellite to orbit for a Japanese television and communications company called SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation.

The JCSAT-14 satellite will hover more than 22,000 miles above Earth in geostationary orbit, delivering broadcast, data and internet service to Japan and beyond.

Last week's launch was the second time this year SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket and then landed it on the barge.

SpaceX said the booster is expected to be here at least until Wednesday night. More visitors are expected to swing by to take a look. After that the rocket will go to Kennedy Space Center for refurbishment and possible re-use.

Meanwhile, SpaceX has released its latest barge landing video. The newest clip features three different angles.

The company called it the "hottest and fastest landing yet." The rocket will undergo tests and will eventually be launched again.

Elon Musk, the CEO and founder of SpaceX, said the goal is to reuse rockets to drive down the cost of launches. SpaceX is hoping to ramp up the number of launches. By the end of the year, the company wants to be able to launch every two to three weeks.



A Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, as seen from Port Orange, early Friday, May 6, 2016. (Jesse Paquin, viewer)