A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center on the Intuitive Machines' Nova-C moon lander mission, in Cape Canaveral, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center on the Intuitive Machines' Nova-C moon lander mission, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. AFP

KEY POINTS

  • An official of The Bahamas said the Falcon 9's successful parking in the area "puts us at the cutting edge of innovation"
  • SpaceX previously said it expected the deal with The Bahamas to open "new orbital trajectories"
  • X users were impressed with the mesmerizing footage and photos of the latest Starlink mission

Elon Musk's SpaceX reached a new milestone Tuesday after a Falcon 9 rocket offloaded 23 Starlink satellite craft to low earth orbit before it descended back to earth, landing in The Bahamas.

SpaceX posted footage of the Falcon 9 rocket's landing off the coast of The Bahamas, getting much attention from users on X, who were ecstatic about the development.

A "significant" milestone for the Bahamas

While the development was deemed an achievement for SpaceX, deputy prime minister of The Bahamas, Isaac Chester Cooper, said it was "significant for The Bahamas in so many ways."

During the SpaceX stream, Cooper noted how the Falcon 9 landing marked the first international landing in The Bahamas, and for him, it "puts us at the cutting edge of innovation, and it gives us a small country of 400,000 people an opportunity to participate in the aerospace industry."

SpaceX expects more developments from The Bahamas deal

Ahead of the Tuesday landing, SpaceX said it expected that the deal with The Bahamas "will enable Falcon 9 to launch to new orbital trajectories," suggesting that it was looking for more collaborations worldwide for its rocket technoloy, considering it had traditionally parked its droneships in the open sea.

Earlier this month, delegates from The Bahamas visited SpaceX facilities in Florida. They brought a Bahamian flag during the visit.

SpaceX has also published jaw-dropping photos and footage of the Falcon 9's journey from pad 40 in Florida at the beginning of its Starlink satellite delivery mission.

X users hail "super-duper cool" landing

Users on Musk's social media platform X have been going wild over the footage of the Falcon 9's successfully landing in The Bahamas.

"So much beauty in that incredible capture," said one user, while another said it "looks like something out of a movie, but it's real and super-duper cool!"

AI executive Vicente Silveira said he watched the Starlink mission rocket make a safe landing from a cruise ship, adding it was an "amazing moment to share with the family."

One cryptocurrency user said SpaceX wasn't just pushing boundaries, it was also "creating new opportunities," referring to the new partnership with The Bahamas.

Software developer Zill said the space company should "bottle the blood, sweat, and tears of their engineers making the impossible look normal, and sell it as inspiration juice."

SpaceX is on a mission to revolutionize space technology and in the future, carry humans to Mars and other destinations across the vast solar system.

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