SpaceX Shows Suprise Rocket Landing From 3 Different Views

The rivalry between Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has just taken on a new angle and in a new arena. The two are now competing for YouTube views as much as successful rocket landings. On the heels of Blue Origin releasing a "ride-along" video of its landing last April from the vantage point of an onboard camera, SpaceX is now showing off its own, equally tense, landing from last week. And it has not one but three clips to show off. Sadly, none of them from onboard the rocket itself.

SpaceX may be ambitious, but it is no fool. When it was scheduled to launch the JCSAT-14 communications satellite last week, it news the odds of making a safe sea landing were just stacked against it. Launching the satellite required the rocket to travel 36,000 km above the Earth's surface, which meant it would need to consume more fuel. That, in turn, meant that it had less fuel left to make a safe landing within some margin of error.

That's not to say SpaceX won't be trying, of course. And try it did, and its patience paid off. Even the anchors for the live coverage were awestruck and speechless when the rocket did actually land safely. And not just on any landing ground, or ground for that matter. It landed on a floating drone, practically a moving target. It didn't break or make a new record, but it was still an attempt worth commending for the sheer difficulty of the task.

Now SpaceX is only too happy to share actual landing videos of that moment. Thrice over, even. Sadly, all videos were taken from the point of view of "ground" cameras, so no footage from the rocket's POV. At least not yet. As the landing was done at night, visibility was, of course, not exactly excellent. Still, for a surprise landing like this, we'll take what we can.