CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—SpaceX launched Christmas gifts, goodies, and supplies to the International Space Station on Tuesday and got a present in return: the company’s 100th successful rocket landing.
The predawn liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center was barely visible in the fog and clouds, as the Falcon rocket hoisted a Dragon capsule loaded with more than 6,500 pounds (2,950 kilograms) of gear for the station’s seven astronauts. Several minutes later, the first-stage booster landed upright on an ocean platform, six years to the day that Elon Musk’s company accomplished its first booster touchdown in 2015.
