Falcon 9 FT
Falcon 9 Full Thrust (also known as Falcon 9 v1.2, with variants Block 1 to Block 5) is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Designed in 2014–2015, Falcon 9 Full Thrust began launch operations in December 2015. As of , Falcon 9 Full Thrust had performed launches without any failures. Based on the Lewis point estimate of reliability, this rocket is the most reliable orbital launch vehicle currently in operation. On April 8, 2016, the ''Full Thrust'' version of the Falcon 9 family was the first launch vehicle on an orbital trajectory to successfully vertically land a first stage. The landing followed a technology development program conducted from 2013 to 2015. Some of the required technology advances, such as landing legs, were pioneered on the Falcon 9 v1.1 version, but that version never landed intact. Starting in 2017, previously flown first-stage boosters were reused to launch new payloads into orbit. This quickly bec ...
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Falcon 9 Flight 20
Falcon 9 flight 20 (also known as Orbcomm OG2 M2) was a Falcon 9 space launch that occurred on 22 December 2015 at 01:29:00 UTC (21 December, 8:29:00 pm local time). It was the first time that the first stage of an orbital rocket made a successful return and vertical landing. The successful landing of the first stage at Landing Zone 1, near the launch site, was the result of a five-year technology development program to develop a reusable launch system and came on a flight test that followed the primary launch mission. Following separation of the second stage, SpaceX conducted the eighth of its controlled booster descent tests of the spent first stage, the first in which the descent target location was on land, and also the first ever successful landing. Prior to this flight, SpaceX's two previous attempts at a vertical landing and booster recovery ended in failure to recover the rocket. The success of flight 20 marked a significant milestone en route to the company's goal ...
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