Florida Today broke the news today that SpaceX was hoping to land its next Falcon 9 rocket on the ground at NASA’s Cape Canaveral facility in Florida. SpaceX has attempted to land a rocket gently before, but those attempts were made on giant floating platforms in the ocean (which just missed).
Then, last week, competitor Blue Origin managed to land it’s own reusable rocket safely on the ground, amping up the public pressure on SpaceX to successfully land their own rocket.
Since one of their rockets exploded in June, SpaceX has been grounded as they troubleshoot. The company is also upgrading their rockets with new engines that can carry heavier loads.
Florida Today reported that SpaceX’s next launch could happen as early as December 15, but that remains unconfirmed.