Rocket landing at sea marks success for SpaceX

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., April 9 (UPI) -- SpaceX successfully completed a rocket landing on a drone ship off the coast of Florida, marking the first such successful landing for the company.

The Falcon 9 first stage rocket touched down on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You without incident Friday as it floated on the Atlantic Ocean.

The sea landing marked the fifth attempt by SpaceX while delivering supplies to the International Space Station, according to reports. Friday's delivery involved the Dragon spacecraft; the mission was titled CRS-8.

"It's another step toward the stars. In order for us to really open up access to space we have to have full and rapid reusability," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a press conference.

Late last year, SpaceX successfully landed a first-stage booster rocket on solid ground in Cape Canaveral after years of development.

The company's goal, alongside other comparable companies including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, is to make reuse of both manned an unmanned rockets for space travel "easy" and more affordable. Earlier this month, Blue Origin successfully landed the same booster rocket for the third time.

Musk said he'll feel as if he has struck true success "when it becomes boring, when it's like, 'another landing, no news there.'"

SpaceX reportedly plans to reuse Friday's rocket as early as June.