Last Tuesday, SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying an unmanned Dragon capsule carrying scientific payload and resupply cargo to the International Space Station.

SpaceX also attempted to land to rocket's first stage on a target floating barge some 200 miles off Florida's coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

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This third attempt to land a rocket safely was thwarted once again as the first stage did set down on the barge, but toppled over and exploded. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted the rocket landed fine but the excess lateral velocity caused the rocket to tip over during post landing.

A video of the landing failure went viral. It showed the rocket exploding just moments after landing on the barge.

NASA rocket boosters either burn up in the atmosphere or splashdown into the ocean. SpaceX is still looking for that breakthrough attempt to refly and reuse a rocket.

SpaceX's ultimate goal is to promote cheaper spaceflights by refurbishing and reusing their reflown rockets to slash expensive spaceflight launch costs. SpaceX is looking forward to becoming the first space company to land a rocket on a floating landing target or an autonomous spaceport drone ship. Attempting to land at sea, however, presents monumental challenges.

Paul Huter, an engineer from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerospace, said this strategy is simply a matter of convenience. He says that since the rocket launch is along the Atlantic Ocean, landing a rocket on the ocean is the easiest target.

Landing a rocket on the ground seems to be a more practical solution than landing it on something that's moving, like a floating barge. SpaceX opted to land on the ocean since it's simply more efficient to land on the floating object.

Experts remain skeptical if SpaceX can successfully land the rocket. Musk earlier admitted a 50/50 chance of its succeeding.

Huter believes SpaceX possesses the capabilities but success won't occur anytime in the near future. He adds that SpaceX may have the facilities and technology and even the budget to land on a floating barge but there are still a lot of variables needing to be considered that makes this feat really challenging.

He says that Musk may have unlimited time and money to revolutionize the future of space launch technology but there could be only so many attempts and each attempt is making them lose money.

The next attempt to land a Falcon 9 rocket on the spaceport drone ship will occur in June when SpaceX is slated to launch the next Dragon shipment.

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