Space X brace for third attempt to land Falcon 9 rocket on drone ship

Private company Space X will attempt to land its Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship next week after two previous attempts to pull off the ambitious feat failed.

The company’s Dragon spacecraft is set to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday April 13 at 4.33pm local time (Tuesday April 14 2.30am AEST) from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The company will try to make history through a precision landing of the returning Falcon 9 rocket on an autonomous “drone ship” known as "Just Read The Instructions", named after a science fiction book series.

The first attempted landing in January saw the first-stage rocket reach the drone ship on target only to explode after hitting the deck too hard. Space X said the “mishap” occurred because the rocket had run out of hydraulic fluid.

Famously self-deprecating and optimistic, billionaire founder Elon Musk tweeted after the incident that more hydraulic fluid would be provided for the next mission, and said, “At least it should explode for a different reason”.

A planned landing in February was cancelled after extreme weather rendered the ocean barge unstable. Upon its return from delivering a US government weather satellite into orbit, the rocket crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists and engineers have testified to the enormity of the task - with the company itself providing a concise analogy.

“At 14 stories tall and travelling upwards of 1300 metres per second, stabilising the F9 first stage for re-entry is like trying to balance a rubber broomstick on your hand in the middle of a wind storm,” the Space X website said of the challenge.

Mr Musk believes reusable rockets will revolutionise space travel, encourage companies to invest in space technology and reduce the pressure on governmental bodies such as NASA.

“This initiative, where we hand off low Earth orbit transportation to the private sector, is critical to our journey to Mars,” NASA administrator Charles Bolden said earlier this year of companies including Space X and Boeing.

The reusable Dragon capsule will transport food, equipment, scientific instruments and other supplies before landing “softly” in the Atlantic Ocean in about five weeks’ time.

Next week’s launch represents the sixth out of twelve planned cargo missions to the ISS Space X is undertaking after winning a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.