
SpaceX has made history by successfully landing its Falcon 9 rocket on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.

It's the fifth attempt at landing the rocket upright - a feat that could pave the way for cheaper space travel.

It follows four failed landings by SpaceX on an autonomous barge, and one successful landing on solid ground in December.

Before coming back down to Earth, the rocket launched nearly 7,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station, including an inflatable 'space house'.

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SpaceX has finally succeeded in landing its Falcon 9 rocket on a barge in the Atlantic ocean. It's the firm's fifth attempt at landing the rocket upright - a feat that could pave the way for cheaper space travel

HOW IT HAPPENED The liftoff at 4:43 p.m. from Cape Canaveral is the first time that SpaceX has resupplied the ISS since the company's last cargo mission in June, which ended in disaster. The unmanned Falcon rocket soared into a clear afternoon sky, carrying a full load of supplies for the International Space Station as well as a futuristic pop-up room. About 2.5 minutes after Friday's launch, the main part of the two-stage SpaceX rocket separated at 140km above Earth, turned around and headed toward a landing platform floating in the Atlantic about 185 miles (300 km) northeast of Cape Canaveral. A live video feed broadcast showed the rocket booster, its four landing legs extended, descending over the ocean before settling itself upright on the platform, roughly eight minutes after launch. Advertisement

Elon Musk hailed the landing as 'another step to the stars,' at a Nasa press conference.

He revealed the firm plans to relaunch the same rocket.

'We're going to wash it down, fill it with fuel, and launch it again,' he said.

'The plan is to bring it to port, pick it up with a crane and fold the legs up and put it on a truck to bring it back to Pad 39A.

'We'll do ten test firings, and if that goes well and we think we'll be comfortable with an orbital flight.'

Musk revealed how tough the landing was, saying there were winds of 50mph at sea above the drone ship.

'The craft tilted into the wind as it descended due to 50mph wind,' he said.

He said future landings were expected to be half on ground and half at sea.

'We're hopeful in the long run we can move to a third or a quarter of landings as sea, it's a lot easy to refly rockets in they are on land.'

He confirmed the next two landing will attempt barge landings, warning they would be 'tough landings, coming in hard'.

The firm will then attempt to land back on land.

Musk also said he hoped that the firm's first crewed mission could take place next year.

'Obviously we want to be super careful, but it could be as soon as next year.'

The liftoff at 4:43 p.m. from Cape Canaveral is the first time that SpaceX has resupplied the ISS since the company's last cargo mission in June, which ended in disaster.

The unmanned Falcon rocket soared into a clear afternoon sky, carrying a full load of supplies for the International Space Station as well as a futuristic pop-up room.

About 2.5 minutes after Friday's launch, the main part of the two-stage SpaceX rocket separated at 140km above Earth, turned around and headed toward a landing platform floating in the Atlantic about 185 miles (300 km) northeast of Cape Canaveral.

A live video feed broadcast showed the rocket booster, its four landing legs extended, descending over the ocean before settling itself upright on the platform, roughly eight minutes after launch.

It landed slightly off centre on the autonomous spaceport drone ship, which is 300 by 100 feet, with wings that extend its width to 170 feet.

SpaceX employees gathered around the company's Mission Control in Hawthorne, California, cheered wildly and chanted 'U.S.A.' after the booster touched down.

The rocket came down after launching nearly 7,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station. Pictured is the rocket a few seconds after launch

About 2.5 minutes after Friday's launch, the main part of the two-stage SpaceX rocket separated, turned around and headed toward a landing platform floating in the Atlantic about 185 miles (300 km) northeast of Cape Canaveral. Pictured is the sequence of events

'Absolutely incredible,' said a SpaceX commentator. 'The crowd is going a little nuts here, as expected.'

Although the company managed to land a spent booster rocket at Cape Canaveral in December, touchdowns at sea had proven elusive, with several attempts ending in explosions on the floating barge. SpaceX's founder Elon Musk wants to ultimately reuse rocket parts to shave launch costs

The rocket's cargo ship, dubbed Dragon, is due to arrive on Sunday at the International Space Station.

Among the cargo on the latest resupply mission is an inflatable space pod.

On the eve of the launch, Bigelow said the mission promises to 'change the entire dynamic for human habitation.'

SpaceX's last delivery attempt, in June, ended in flames after just two minutes, doomed by a snapped strut in the oxygen tank of the upper stage. The company successfully resumed Falcon launches late last year with satellites.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or Beam, will be the first inflatable habitat to ever be attached to the ISS.

The liftoff at 4:43 p.m. from Cape Canaveral is the first time that SpaceX has resupplied the ISS since the company's last cargo mission in June, which ended in disaster

Falcon 9 landed slightly off centre on the autonomous spaceport drone ship, which is 300 by 100 feet, with wings that extend its width to 170 feet. Pictured is the landing sequence, which is the company's fifth attempt at an ocean landing

This image was tweeted by SpaceX yesterday as the Falcon 9 rocket was being transported to the launch pad

'Expandables' like Beam, also called 'inflatables', are ideal because they are lightweight and take up minimal space on a rocket.

WHAT IS THE BIGELOW EXPANDABLE ACTIVITY MODULE? Beam will be the first inflatable space habitat to ever be attached to the International Space Station (ISS). Designed by Nasa and Bigelow Aerospace, Beam is scheduled to launch on the eighth SpaceX Commercial Resupply Service mission, due to take off on 8 April. Made up of aluminum and soft fabric, BEAM is designed to pack down into a relatively compact 5.7 feet (1.7 metres) long and just under 7.75 feet (2.4 metres) in diameter when stowed for the flight into space. When it is attached to the station's structure and inflated, it will expand to 12 feet (3.7 metres) long and 10.5 feet (3.2 metres) in diameter. Although this will be the first of these habitats tested on the ISS, Nasa thinks expandables could be a key technology to help humans on the journey to Mars. Advertisement

They expand after being deployed in space to potentially provide a comfortable area for astronauts to live and work.

'The journey to Mars is complex and filled with challenges that Nasa and its partners are continuously working to solve,' Nasa said.

'Before sending the first astronauts to the red planet, several rockets filled with cargo and supplies will be deployed to await the crews' arrival.'

Once attached to the station, the soft-sided Bigelow compartment will be inflated to the size of a small bedroom.

Made up of aluminum and soft fabric, Beam is designed to pack down into a relatively compact 5.7ft (1.7 metres) long and just under 7.75ft (2.4 metres) in diameter when stowed for the flight into space.

When it is attached to the station's structure and inflated, it will expand to 12ft (3.7 metres) long and 10.5ft (3.2 metres) in diameter.

Nasa outlined the four possible ways it might expand in a video.

The inflation is going to be done very slowly so Nasa can monitor the expansion process and maintain the safety of the crew and the station.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, B for short, will stay there for two years, with astronauts occasionally entering it.

It will be the first time an astronaut steps inside an expandable habitat structure in space.

'It's not just historic for our company, which obviously is the case, but I think it's historic for the architecture,' said Robert Bigelow, founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace and owner of Budget Suites of America.

This second stage engine burn took place shortly before separation and landing. It was at an altitude of 199km and travelling at 9269km/h

Elon Musk tweeted this image of the barge, named 'Of course I still love you' ahead of today's launch. It is located about 185 miles (300 km) northeast of Cape Canaveral

Once attached to the station, the soft-sided Bigelow compartment will be inflated to the size of a small bedroom. Made up of aluminum and soft fabric, Beam is designed to pack down into a relatively compact 5.7ft (1.7 metres) long and just under 7.75ft (2.4 metres) in diameter when stowed for the flight into space

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, B for short, will stay there for two years, with astronauts occasionally entering it. It will be the first time an astronaut steps inside an expandable habitat structure in space. The pod's size, compared to an average man, is pictured

THE FAILED SPACE X LAUNCH The Falcon 9 rocket broke up just minutes after its launch with a robotic Drago cargo capsule for the ISS in June. SpaceX said the initial part of the liftoff went well, until the vehicle went supersonic. Elon Musk posted an update soon after saying, 'Falcon 9 experienced a problem shortly before the first stage shutdown. There was an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank.' In a post-incident press briefing, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told members of the media, 'We do not expect this to be a first stage issue. 'We saw some pressurisation indications in the second stage which we will be investigating.' Advertisement

As a precursor to larger systems, Bigelow said Beam could 'change the entire dynamic for human habitation' in space.

He hopes to have a pair of private space stations ready for launch by 2020.

Although this will be the first of these habitats tested on the ISS, Nasa thinks expandables could be a key technology to help humans on the journey to Mars.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Last June, the firm's Falcon 9 rocket broke up just minutes after its launch with a robotic Drago cargo capsule for the ISS.

SpaceX said the initial part of the liftoff went well, until the vehicle went supersonic.

Elon Musk posted an update soon after saying, 'Falcon 9 experienced a problem shortly before the first stage shutdown. There was an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank.'

In a post-incident press briefing, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told members of the media, 'We do not expect this to be a first stage issue.

'We saw some pressurisation indications in the second stage which we will be investigating.'

Today's launch will be SpaceX's first station delivery since a launch accident halted shipments last June. Boss Elon Musk is pictured. The Falcon 9 rocket broke up just minutes after its launch with a robotic Drago cargo capsule for the ISS in June. SpaceX said the initial part of the liftoff went well, until the vehicle went supersonic

Robert Bigelow, founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace, speaks at a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. As a precursor to larger systems, Bigelow said Beam could 'change the entire dynamic for human habitation' in space

If it works, Beam (pictured) could help launch a whole new era of space habitats that take up much less space and weight, reducing the costs of space travel and exploration. Once Beam is fully expanded, the crew will pressurise it and test for leaks

THE HISTORY OF BEAM Bigelow Aerospace won't divulge the material used for Beam's outer layers - or even how many layers - just that the layers are spread out to absorb and break up any penetrating bits of space junk. Back when Nasa was working on the technology in the 1990s, a combination of Nextel, Kevlar, foam and other fabric formed the multilayer shield. Nasa called its project TransHab, for Transit Habitat. It never flew to space, despite elaborate blueprints and ground mock-ups. Designers envisioned an inflatable, four-level compartment, complete with dining, sleeping and exercising areas for station crews. Congress cancelled TransHab in 2000 and Bigelow Aerospace bought the patent from Nasa. The company launched a pair of expandable spacecraft a decade ago from Russia as an experiment. Called Genesis I and II, they're still orbiting. Nasa, meanwhile, paid Bigelow Aerospace $17.8 million for the upcoming test flight, making the Beam the most affordable module ever launched to the space station, said Michael Gold, director of operations and business growth for Bigelow Aerospace. Advertisement

Beam will travel in the Dragon capsule's unpressurised compartment; the space station's big robot arm will grab the structure and attach it to a berthing port.

If it works, Beam could help launch a whole new era of space habitats that take up much less space and weight, reducing the costs of space travel and exploration.

Once Beam is fully expanded, the crew will pressurise it and test for leaks, before making sure the pressure in the Beam is the same as the pressure in the space station.

Then they will enter and install sensors that will collect thermal, impact and radiation data and share it with Nasa employees on earth.

'Nasa is developing the capabilities to send people into deep space. To accomplish this, we need to extend our knowledge of how to operate in space,' a Nasa video demonstrating the module says.

'These experiments will help determine whether expandable structures will provide a viable lightweight option for future space habitats,' the video says.

They also provide protection from solar and cosmic radiation, space debris, atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation and other elements of the space environment.

After the two-year test and validation period, Beam will be robotically jettisoned from the space station, leaving orbit to burn during its descent through Earth's atmosphere, much like the fate of many cargo spacecraft.

Besides Falcon repairs and upgrades, SpaceX activated the Dragon's parachute system this time.

That way, in case of a launch accident, the Dragon could parachute into the Atlantic and hopefully be salvaged.

The Dragon is the only station cargo ship capable of returning items to Earth and thus equipped with parachutes.

Nasa is anxious to get back blood and other samples collected by one-year spaceman Scott Kelly, who returned to Earth in March, as well as a defective spacesuit that cut short a spacewalk in January.

In the meantime, companies - even countries - are clamouring to put their own experiments inside the empty Beam, Bigelow said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.

If everything goes well, that next commercial step could happen in perhaps six months, he said.

Expandable habitats like Beam, officials noted, need to be just as strong - or stronger = than the standard metal cylinders that make up the current space station. BEAM has proven to be equal or better against space debris than metal, said Nasa project manager Rajib Dasgupta.

Bigelow goes as far as to say: 'The aluminum cans are antiquated.'

Beyond low-Earth orbit, radiation poses increased health risks to crews living inside aluminum walls.

So inflatable spacecraft, he said, are cheaper, bigger, safer and, potentially, longer lasting.

Bigelow said Beam is nothing like a balloon - 'it's not going to go bang' - or even a football. Think steel belts in a car tire. 'It's pretty novel.'

The beauty of expandable habitats is their compactness for launch.

Beam has been bundled up for more than a year - it should have flown last fall, but was delayed by the SpaceX rocket grounding.

Bigelow stressed that the main purpose is testing and engineers don't know now how well it will work after being compressed for so long.

Bigelow Aerospace has plans for a much larger expandable habitat B330, providing 11,654 cubic feet (330 cubic metres) of internal space, the size of a couple of buses.

The company hopes to launch two of the B330s around 2020, providing opportunities for companies, schools, countries outside the space mainstream, and Nasa, too, if it likes.

In an artist's rendering, the two habitats are linked in orbit. Then there's the company's envisioned Olympus, a supersize space station-hotel combo.

Nasa, meanwhile, imagines inflatable modules at Mars awaiting astronauts traveling in the traditional Orion spacecraft that is hooked up with inflatable compartments to ease the eight-month, one-way journey.

'It's an important piece to the human space exploration puzzle,' Gold said. 'Regardless of where you go, you need a place to live and work.'