WELCOME

"We were able to successfully land the first stage of

Oct. 8, 2017 by Lena Webb

"We were able to successfully land the first stage of our Falcon 9 rocket on the West Coast of California," said Adam Williams, SpaceX senior vice president of launch operations. "It was a tremendous achievement."

Williams said the mission took about 30 minutes to land on the West Coast of California and the first stage's descent was about five minutes. With the Falcon 9's payload carrying 16 kg of payload, the first stage's landing gear was about 15 feet out of the way and the second stage's landing gear was about 10 feet out of the way.

"We landed on the West Coast of California and we're proud to be here!" Williams said.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and California National Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., built the first-ever multi-stage satellite, the SLS-M mission, which is expected to run for four days without a launch pad.

NASA, in coordination with the U.S. Space Agency, launched the SLS-M mission in October. The mission is designed to land multiple satellites on long-duration missions at the same time.

SpaceX is the first commercial company to test a first stage of a rocket, which will test its first launch vehicle, a Falcon 9 rocket. The spacecraft will test a new type of rocket: a small satellite called the Dragon capsule, which will carry the first stages of a rocket to the International Space Station.

The Dragon capsule was designed to allow space workers to get in early and make it directly onto the station by parachute and lift off after a launch pad. Dragon will then be delivered to a launch pad in Florida, where it will be placed in orbit by the International Space Station.

"This test will provide NASA's first and longest-duration test of a commercial launch vehicle," said Scott Swift, a NASA spokesman. "This test will provide a critical first stage to the International Space Station, providing high-quality launch experience for NASA's future missions."

Dragon will be the first satellite to carry a single-stage rocket, which will give SpaceX the ability to launch it into space in less than a year. The Dragon capsule will carry 14 satellites, including three Dragon spacecraft and an Atlas V rocket.

The spacecraft will then carry the first stage of the Dragon capsule, which will carry the first stage of the Dragon capsule.

"We're proud to call this an exciting day for the United States of America," said Chris McGregor, SpaceX's president of engineering