Elon Musk's SpaceX launches rocket from historic NASA pad

A SpaceX Falcon rocket was launched on Sunday morning from Kennedy Space Center's launch complex 39 A. Later on, after nine minutes it successfully landed back on the ground.

The rocket which blasted from NASA's historic moonshot pad carried a cargo ship with about 5,500 pounds (2,500 kg) of supplies and experiments for the International Space Station.

After the launch, the rocket’s first stage separated, turned around and touched down on a landing pad at the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Moreover, it marked the eighth successful landing for Elon Musk’s rocket company.

The spot is considered to be historic as nearly half a century ago astronauts flew to the moon from here. Further, nearly six years ago, the pad had been utilised for NASA's final shuttle mission.

Also Read: SpaceX set to launch rocket from NASA's historic moon pad

Since a rocket explosion occured in the summer of 2016, this is Space X's first launch from Florida. The company aspires to land the booster rocket back at Cape Canaveral following litoff. SpaceX is leasing the pad from NASA for 20 years and the organization aims to launch US astronauts from there in 2018. A launch attempt had been scuttled on Saturday due to last-minute rocket concerns.