The Toisa Polaris or Sea Launch is what I'm thinking of along those lines.
Sea Launch platform.
Toisa Polaris.
Posted on 07/23/2014 9:46:33 PM PDT by Moonman62
SpaceX released video today of another successful soft landing of its Falcon 9 rocket, this time in the Atlantic Ocean. The test confirms that the Falcon 9 booster is able to consistently reenter from space at hypersonic velocity, restart main engines twice, deploy landing legs and touch down at near zero velocity. After landing, the vehicle tipped sideways as planned to its final water safing state in a nearly horizontal position. The water impact caused loss of hull integrity, but SpaceX received all the necessary data to achieve a successful landing on a future flight.
The company says it is highly confident of being able to land successfully on a floating launch pad or back at the launch site and re-fly the rocket with no required refurbishment.
(Excerpt) Read more at kxxv.com ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQnR5fhCXkQ&feature=youtu.be
I love the euphamism! Basically it sank!
SpaceX is an embarrassment to the US Government. It will be suppressed.
SpaceX is funded by the US Government to the tune of $500 million.
Did NASA build Apollo and go to the Moon? No, Grumman, Boeing, North American Aviation, and other aerospace companies built it under NASA contract.
I love the euphamism! Basically it sank!
Or as Elon Musk put it, kaboom. It doesn’t matter much because the soft landing was the objective, but I believe they would have liked a recovery.
Good point. Spacex is an embarrassment to the crony system. They already have one lawsuit concerning a military contract.
I expect that Spacex will have to use a platform. I don’t think there’s is any way the cronies and their politicians will allow Spacex to have a big success by landing back at the Cape.
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