The company continues to put SpaceX first stage rocket Falcon9, so in the fact of planting the waste stage is not surprising. But Elon Musk, the head of the company, is constantly striving to improve and make the process of takeoff and landing more technologically advanced. The other day he said that now control the landing rockets will be robots.
Today, he announced that the launch of the Bulgarian communications satellite BulgariaSat–1 due to the replacement valve in the main fairing was moved to June 23. The satellite will orbit already flying stage, and the landing of the first stage to control its landing, the robot will be Rumba. First robot noticed on the launch pad in March of this year, and now he will finally start to work.
The robot is a structure consisting of three grippers can be adjusted to the direction coming in for a landing rocket and quickly grab her on the way to the platform.
In addition to the Bulgarian satellite, SpaceX has scheduled the launch of Iridium satellites on 25 June 2017. Booster with them starts from the launch site Vandenberg air force base, located in California.
Stage Falcon 9 will put the robot
Vyacheslav Larionov