American private space firm SpaceX faced a setback to its reusable rocket program Saturday when the rocket booster landed on its target platform at sea much harder than planned, according to the company's CEO, Elon Musk. Writing on Twitter, Musk noted that the rocket booster, meant to be land softly so as to be refurbished and reused, landed much harder than expected, causing damage to equipment. "Close, but no cigar this time," he added. Should SpaceX eventually be successful at reusing its rockets, the cost of space missions would be significantly reduced. The Saturday mission's primary goal of delivering supplies to the International Space Station was a success.
