SpaceX has been landing the first stage of its workhorse Falcon 9 launch vehicle since 2015. vertical landing, burning enginesnever gets old.
Most landings happen on a drone ship waiting in the ocean, although sometimes SpaceX also lands a booster near the launch site.
Earlier this week, the Elon Musk-led space company launched and landed Falcon 9 launch vehicle – B1067 for a record 32nd time, highlighting SpaceX's ability to reuse its rockets.
But after the engines shut down and the live broadcast ends, the launch vehicle is little more than an oddly shaped piece of cargo bobbing up and down on the waves, with the mundane journey back to base ahead.
A new video posted by Elisar Priel of NASASpaceFlight shows the rather unglamorous and very ordinary sea journey of the first stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, this time the record-breaking B1067.
No, it's not the most exciting footage, but it does offer a behind-the-scenes look at what happens to the rocket after the fireworks are over.
After the Falcon 9 launch vehicle returns to port, it is removed from the drone and moved to a hangar, where SpaceX engineers carefully check its structure and engines for wear and tear or any serious damage.
Once assessed, teams will make necessary repairs or replace parts before thoroughly testing the launch vehicle for the next flight.
Once the craft is ready, SpaceX planners will select a mission for it before integrating a new upper stage for a flight that could include anything from deploying another batch of Starlink satellites to a crewed mission heading to the space station.
The rocket is then delivered back to the launch pad, ready to repeat the cycle, which begins with another launch and ends with another routine trip home.
