Just before Christmas 2015, SpaceX successfully launched – and landed – the Falcon 9 rocket, a feat that many thought could never be achieved.

While the launch was live streamed and is still available for those wanting to relive it, SpaceX recently released a much shorter video that gives us a closer look at the launch and, more importantly, the historic landing.

Before the latest launch from Cape Canaveral, SpaceX had had attempted to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on land and on a drone ship (a landing pad floating in the ocean), but it failed. The rocket hit the ground, fell over and exploded.

Many engineers and scientists believed that a vertical landing was too difficult to accomplish; SpaceX proved them wrong, and carved its name into the history books when it actually accomplished the mission in December.

SpaceX has long been working to develop re-useable rocket technology in a bid to commercialise space-based ventures, and December’s success was an important milestone on the road to achieving that goal.

The three-minute video sums up the launch, landing and deployment of the rocket’s Orbcomm satellite payload, but the real value here is the joyous celebrations of the crew once Falcon 9 lands safely back on Earth.

According to a report on Mashable, SpaceX will once again attempt to land the Falcon 9 rocket, this time on a drone ship.

The launch will take place on 17th January at 1:42pm E.T (8:42pm CAT) at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where the Falcon 9 is expected to deliver a NASA global sea level monitoring satellite known as Jason-3 into space.

[Source – SpaceX]