After delivering many satellites to polar orbit, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed back on Earth. A tracking camera installed at the launchpad captured the rocket's flawless landing on tape.The Transporter-2 mission took off from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida at 3:11 p.m. EST (1511 GMT). The original launch date was June 25, but the mission was postponed for a few more prelaunch checks. On Tuesday, June 29, the plane entered restricted airspace surrounding the launch site. This caused a further 24-hour delay.SpaceX successfully landed its first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1), at Cape Canaveral in less than 10 minutes. This is just a few miles away from where it launched. The launchpad's tracking camera captured spectacular views of the rocket's descent to Earth and its precise landing.Video: SpaceX launches a rocket in Florida with an amazing tracking cam videoRelated: SpaceX's rocket pilot lands on a drone shipAfter launching the Transporter-2 rideshare mission into orbit on June 30, 2021, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lands at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. SpaceX image creditSpaceX's commentator, who was speaking during a live webcast, said that the landing was "as smooth as I've ever seen it." We had incredible shots of the rocket all the way to the landing burn.Three engine burns were used to slow down the rocket's descent during landing. The final and third burn was the landing burn. It occurred just before touchdown. This provided the booster with a gentle descent before it landed back on Earth.Wednesday's successful landing marks the eighth launch and landing for the rocket's first stage booster B1060 since its first flight last year, when it launched an upgraded GPS III satellite to the U.S. Space Force. It was also the 89th successful landing of a SpaceX first-stage booster and the first year-end land landing, considering that previous SpaceX launches landed their first stage boosters on one the company's drone vessels.SpaceX's second dedicated small satellite rideshare program, Transporter-2, sent 85 spacecraft, both commercial and government, into orbit. This included cubesats and microsats as well as orbital transfer vehicles that assist in deploying all small satellites to the right orbits. The rocket also launched three Starlink Internet satellites from SpaceX, bringing a total of 88 satellites into orbit.SpaceX also shared another video, which captures incredible views from space during the deployment of payloads into orbit. According to the video, all 88 spacecraft were successfully deployed.The first payload was deployed by NASA's PACE-1 spacecraft approximately 58 minutes into flight. About 1 hour and 27 mins after launch, the final deployment included three Starlink satellites. These are part of SpaceX’s plan to create a megaconstellation that will provide low-cost internet access to remote areas.SpaceX's 20th mission, the Transporter-2 mission launched, was the company's fourth launch within a month of Florida's Space Coast.Follow Samantha Mathewson @Sam_Ashley13. Follow us @Spacedotcom on Twitter and Facebook.
