SpaceX home movies: Watch 4 years of Falcon 9 development in 4 minutes (VIDEO)

16 Apr, 2016 16:47

The breakthrough moments, which saw the spacecraft leap from pipedream to wonder rocket, can be relived in under five minutes.

The space delivery project met a major milestone a week ago when the SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully touched down at its Atlantic spaceport.  

Up until April 8, billionaire businessman Elon Musk had seen his reusable rocket project successfully launch a Dragon delivery ship into space, but fail to land safely on a floating drone ship.

Using a collection of SpaceX launch videos, Kinematic have compiled the history of Falcon 9 in an epic supercut, reminiscent of a family home movie.

No wonder Musk loves it so much. 

The video begins with testing of the SpaceX Grasshopper - a forerunner to the Falcon 9 rocket (F9R) - and also charts the pitfalls of engineering a space transport system. 

READ MORE: 5 spectacular SpaceX rocket fails, from launches to landings (VIDEO)

It includes amazing footage of the F9R’s early launches and the rocket’s first successful re-entry into the atmosphere… 

… as well as the explosive setbacks faced by Musk’s intergalactic exploration company. 

Although Musk has seen some of his expensive hardware go up in smoke, the mini-movie highlights that his reusable rocket brainwave went from Grasshopper to rocket lander in less than four years.