Watch SpaceX get very close to catching its rocket’s nose cone during a test
SpaceX is getting excruciatingly close to catching a part of its rocket that falls out of the sky after each launch. A new video, released by the company on Twitter, shows a recent drop test of the rocket’s nose cone, the bulbous shell that shields the vehicle’s satellite and then breaks away during flight. In the footage, the nose cone nearly lands on SpaceX’s recovery boat, but ultimately, it falls into the water.
While the video is painful to watch, it suggests that SpaceX may soon be able to perform a successful nose cone recovery after an upcoming mission. And that could provide some savings for SpaceX. This hardware, also known as a payload fairing, costs about $6 million to make for each flight, according to the company. SpaceX...