Falcon 9 rocket nose cone misses safety net, but survives landing

Elon Musk has disclosed that when attempting to capture the nose cone of a Falcon 9 rocket, the nose cone missed the safety net by several hundred yards. The nose cone seems to have survived the landing on the water.

The so-called fairing is part of the Falcon 9 rocket that launched two internet satellites into the sky on Thursday. To reduce the cost of building the rocket, SpaceX wants to land as much of the rocket as possible for reuse. The nose cone alone costs 6 million euros to build.

To accommodate the nose cone, SpaceX equipped it with a parachute and a guidance system with thrusters. With this equipment, the shell should be able to land on a boat with a huge safety net.

The nose cone missed the safety net, but appears to have landed intact in the water. Musk indicates that it may be possible to capture the nosecone by equipping it with larger parachutes to slow the descent.