Falcon 9 Reusable Takes its Second Flight Test

By Nancy Atkinson - May 2, 2014 at 11:42 AM UTC | Space Exploration
falcon-9-r.jpg

No cows were harmed in the making of this video! SpaceX has released a video of a second test light of the Falcon 9 Reusable (FR9), and this time the rocket reached 1,000 meters - quadrupling its height from its previous test (see previous test flight below) -- before returning to land softly.

From SpaceX: "The F9R testing program is the next step towards reusability following completion of the Grasshopper program last year. Future testing, including that in New Mexico, will be conducted using the first stage of a F9R as shown here, which is essentially a Falcon 9 v1.1 first stage with legs. F9R test flights in New Mexico will allow us to test at higher altitudes than we are permitted for at our test site in Texas, to do more with unpowered guidance and to prove out landing cases that are more-flight like."

SpaceX has said that these first flights of F9R will have the landing legs fixed in the down position, but soon future tests will have the legs stowed against the side of the rocket and then extending them just before landing.

Here's the first flight test:

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com