Falcon 9 rocket fails to nail drone boat landing, explodes spectacularly

SpaceX may be in a good place when it comes to landing its Falcon 9 rockets on dry land — and thus allowing them to be reused — but the same cannot be said for its attempts to land on drone ships out at sea.

The latest attempt, shared by Elon Musk om Instagram, shows a Falcon 9 attempting to land on one of SpaceX’s drone ships.

All appears to be going well until the rocket tips over and explodes spectacularly.

Falcon lands on droneship, but the lockout collet doesn't latch on one the four legs, causing it to tip over post landing. Root cause may have been ice buildup due to condensation from heavy fog at liftoff.

A video posted by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Jan 17, 2016 at 7:07pm PST

According to Musk, the rocket fell over after one of the collets on the ship failed to lock down the fourth leg. The root cause, he says, “may have been ice buildup due to condensation from heavy fog at liftoff”.

While it’s easy to see this attempt as a failure, it’s important to remember that it’s another important step in the bid to make space travel more affordable.