See SpaceX Test Fire Landed Falcon 9 Rocket

With a re-launch of a landed rocket planned later this year, SpaceX is gearing up to prove that their rockets truly are re-usable. The boosters will have to go through a number of tests to ensure they are fit for another launch and to this end recently finished test-firing one of the Falcon 9 rockets at their Texas development site on Thursday.

During the test, the booster was fired for a total of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, which is the duration that the rocket would have to burn for a single first-stage launch flight. According to initial reports from NASA Spaceflight, the booster looked to perform well and was in good shape during the post-test evaluation, which is a good sign that the company will remain on schedule for a relaunch.

The Falcon 9 used for this test firing was the one that carried the JCSAT communication satellite into orbit back in May. With a small pool of rockets to choose from, this one was the obvious choice for this test, with SpaceX founder Elon Musk claiming the first rocket ever to land is destined to be a museum piece. The first rocket landed at sea was also not an option as it is too valuable to waste on testing as it is the one set to be sent back to space.

While we still don’t know when the re-launch will take place, it definitely seems like SpaceX’s reusable rocket plan will come to fruition soon. The only question is: will they successfully land the re-launched rocket too?