Musk tweeted that the lockout collet on one of the rocket's four legs didn't latch, causing it to tip over after landing.
SpaceX's third try at landing a rocket on a floating barge ended in failure again on Sunday after a problem with one of its landing legs.
When the Falcon 9 first stage returned to land on SpaceX's "Just Follow the Instructions" autonomous landing barge, however, all did not go as planned.
The company is still working on re-landing its SpaceX rockets in hopes of reusing them for future launches, thereby saving money on unmanned space missions.
The launch of the satellite is a partnership between several worldwide agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, the French space agency CNES, and the European Organization for Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.
But SpaceX founder Elon Musk nailed both on Sunday when he gave us a new look at the almost-a-complete-success landing of the Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship floating in the Pacific Ocean.
The primary goal of the launch was apparently achieved, as the Jason 3 weather satellite was successfully tracked in low Earth orbit, according to video feeds from space.
The 22-story-tall rocket lifted off through thick fog from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast at 12:42 p.m. CST. Whereupon, of course, as rockets are wont to do, it exploded.
"Definitely harder to land on a ship", tweeted Musk after the latest foible. But he adds the ship landings are necessary for "high velocity missions".
SpaceX was successful in December in landing its rocket upright on land, and it admits sea landings are more hard.
The private spaceflight company SpaceX did successfully launch an ocean studies satellite called Jason 3 into orbit yesterday (January 17, 2016).
The 1,200-pound spacecraft is the fourth in a series of ocean-monitoring satellites taking center stage in monitoring Earth's climate. "Won't be last RUD, but am optimistic about upcoming ship landing". It crashed due to a lack of hyraulic fluid, Musk said.
The satellite would also help scientists understand the effects of climate change on ocean levels.
Panthers: We needed to keep foot on the gas vs. Seahawks
After Sunday's game, Richard Sherman said those who think Seattle's run is over will be proven wrong. "That's why we came back". Wilson threw 24 touchdowns with only one interception over the final seven games of the season, while throwing for 2,166 yards.
