[freepersup]

If landing a booster rocket on a potentially pitching barge is useful... why not land a booster rocket on something more stable like land? Just wondering. How about some kind of super structure ringing the landing spot, so as to brace the rocket if it lurched/leaned/faltered? Seems like a practical option.

[Kegger]

Why SpaceX Needs to Land a Rocket on a Floating Drone

[Vince Ferrer]

SpaceX already has landed on land, but there are reasons to develop the ability to land on a barge. When launching rockets to orbit it is best to launch from west to east so that the speed of the rotation of the Earth helps the rocket reach orbit. Then if you want to go back and land at the launch site, you have to stop forward motion, power back, and power land. This takes a lot of extra fuel.

If you have the ability to land on a barge you can position the barge in the flight path of the rocket, and the only extra fuel is to land on the barge. This allows the rocket to carry more payload.

[reed13k]

liability if something goes wrong on approach.