Theambitious mission was to see the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket maneuver its way back down after propelling Dragon 9 the initial step of the way to the International Space Station, dropping down to a pad in the Atlantic ocean. If successful, it would have been one of the most impressive acts of recycling around, with the first stage a whopping fourteen-stories tall.

Reusing such a massive component of space travel - rather than, as is currently the case, such rocket stages simply crashing down into the ocean as scrap - is one of the core tenets of SpaceX's ongoing mission.

By reusing the Falcon 9 stage, it could further bring down the cost of taking materiel and, eventually, people into space. For safety, the "spaceport drone ship" was fully autonomous.

While Musk was clearly disappointed, discussing the attempt onTwitter, he was nonetheless hopeful about the company's second attempt at the challenge.