SpaceX lands Falcon 9 rocket at sea again, despite much harsher conditions

Saying "there's no way I can pull this off" to lower expectations is the oldest trick in the book, but SpaceX just used it masterfully. The company managed to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship at sea for the second time, despite previously saying a successful landing was "unlikely."

This is due to the rocket's re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere being much faster (and, thus, hotter) than on the first successful attempt in April. 

The Falcon 9, which was launched at 1:21 a.m. ET Friday, carried a Japanese communications satellite called JCSAT-14 into Earth's orbit. That part of the mission was also a success, with the second stage of Falcon 9 delivering JCSAT-14 into orbit about an hour after launch.  Read more...