A SpaceX Dragon capsule is on its way to the International Space Station, but the booster that launched the cargo ship on Wednesday afternoon missed a landing pad on Cape Canaveral and hit the ocean.
The two-stage rocket rumbled into clear skies over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 1:16 p.m., firing nine Merlin engines to climb from Launch Complex 40 with 1.7 million pounds of thrust.
The Dragon safely reached orbit about 10 minutes later, carrying nearly 6,000 pounds of experiments and supplies including fresh holiday food to the station’s six-person crew.
After completing its job a little over two minutes into the flight, the Falcon booster, which was flying for the first time, fired engines again to begin flying back to Landing Zone 1.
As the Cape came into focus below, cameras appeared to show the stage go into a spin before cutting out. Launch teams reported that engines had initiated a final burn to brake the booster’s descent.
But spectators never heard the loud sonic booms that accompany successful touchdowns and ripple across the Space Coast.
SpaceX later reported that the 156-foot-tall booster had made a “water landing.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said there was a problem with one of four fins that stabilize the rocket's fall, but that the stage could be recovered.
"Grid fin hydraulic pump stalled, so Falcon landed just out to sea," he said on Twitter. "Appears to be undamaged & is transmitting data. Recovery ship dispatched."
The landing would have been SpaceX's 33rd on land or at sea overall, accounting for roughly half of all Falcon 9 missions. Instead, it became the company's first failed try to land a booster on land.
The Dragon, meanwhile, was said to be delivered to an accurate orbit, putting it on course to reach the space station early Saturday.
Station astronauts Alexander Gerst and Serena Auñón-Chancellor will attempt to grapple the Dragon with a 57-foot robotic arm before it is reeled into a port for a five-week stay.
The launch was SpaceX’s 20th of the year, adding to a company record set two days earlier with a launch from California.
SpaceX is targeting a Dec. 18 liftoff of its 21st mission, its first launch of a Global Positioning System satellite for the U.S. Air Force.
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