SpaceX will try to send the Falcon 9 rocket to space and land it on solid ground in a landing site on Cape Canaveral Air Force station, according to Nasa officials.
The company has only attempted landing its rockets on ships out at sea.
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If successful, it will be the company’s first achievement towards making its flagship Falcon 9 a reusable rocket.
Falcon 9 already tried two landing attempts at sea, which were unsuccessful.
In 2014, SpaceX tried to land a 14-storey long Falcon 9 rocket on a custom-built ocean platform known as an autonomous spaceport drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, to reduce the cost of a space launch programme.
The landing attempt in February failed as the rocket fell ten meters away from designated drone ship. The first attempt also failed after a successful launch as the Falcon 9 crash landed on the drone ship.
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By GlobalDataIn June, an unmanned Falcon 9 carrying cargo for the International Space Station broke off minutes after its launch. Since then, the Falcon 9 rocket has not carried out any attempt to fly and expects to return to flight later this month with a solid ground landing.
Nasa commercial crew programme technical integrator Carol Scott was quoted by Fortune saying: "Their plan is to try to land [the rocket stage] out here on the Cape side."
Nasa stated it will upgrade the Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A to accommodate SpaceX’s larger Falcon Heavy rocket’s launch next year.
However, SpaceX has not confirmed the report since the landing would require Federal Aviation Administration permission in terms of the rocket’s launch range.
In November, SpaceX’s rival Blue Origin successfully landed its New Shepard booster in Texas after sending it to space.
Image: Falcon 9 attempted a sea landing in January, followed by another one in April. Photo: courtesy of Space Exploration Technologies.
