SpaceX: 'Close, but no cigar' landing leftover rocket booster

SpaceX: &#039;Close, but no cigar&#039; landing leftover rocket booster — (Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

SpaceX successfully launched its unmanned Falcon rocket toward the International Space Station on Saturday. The first-of-its-kind attempt to recover the leftover booster? That did not go as hoped, The Associated Press reports.

"Close, but no cigar this time," billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on Twitter afterward.

Musk has said that in order to slash costs, there needs to be a way to reuse rockets. The company attempted to land the Falcon's leftover booster on a floating platform off the coast of Jacksonville, but the rocket missed its target. NASA is more focused on the $133 million in cargo the Falcon is carrying toward the ISS. Due to arrive on Monday, the rocket is carrying much-needed supplies to the astronauts aboard — along with belated Christmas presents.

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You can watch the launch in NASA's video, below. --Sarah Eberspacher

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.