SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket early Saturday morning in Cape Canaveral, Florida, but failed to complete the experimental portion of its mission.

As NBC News reports, , which was successful. SpaceX and founder Elon Musk had planned to make space travel history by maneuvering the first stage of the rocket to land on a platform 200 miles off the Florida coast.

In that regard, SpaceX was unsuccessful:

By landing the first stage of the rocket, SpaceX would be able to recycle its materials rather than build new components from scratch.

told ABC News that being able to recycle rockets would reduce "the cost of access to space...by as much as a factor of a hundred."

how a successful landing would operate: After the rocket detaches, its engines would reignite and cycle through a series of three burns designed to slow the rocket from 1,300 m/s to 2 m/s by the time it lands. During the burns, four fins on the outside of the rocket would help steer and guide the rocket toward the location of the platform.

On the third and final burn landing gear would deploy and the rocket would touchdown on the surface of the platform.

Although the ship landed hard, Musk confirmed that it was intact:

SpaceX said that the rocket only had an accuracy within 6 miles of the landing platform in previous attempts, and that in order for Saturday's launch to be successful, the rocket would have to improve its accuracy to within 33 feet of the landing platform.

It was no easy task considering the platform was moving in the ocean, something Musk and SpaceX openly acknowledged before the attempt Saturday morning.

"The odds of success are not great — perhaps 50 percent at best,""However, this test represents the first in a series of similar tests that will ultimately deliver a fully reusable Falcon 9 first stage."

Although landing the rocket at sea was unsuccessful, the weather seemed to cooperate.

The launch was set for 4:47 a.m. EST in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and according to weather.com meteorologist Chrissy Warrilow, weather conditions were good for launch time.

(FORECAST:)

"Rain is not expected to impact the SpaceX launch early Saturday morning," said Warrilow. "Weather conditions for the launch will mainly consist of partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 50s. With that said, winds will be blowing from the northwest at 10 mph with gusts as high as 20 mph."

The rocket was originally scheduled to launch Tuesday, but was scrapped at the last second due to an issue with the rocket.

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New York

New York City, posted on April 23, 2013. Cmdr. Chris Hadfield tweets: Incredibly clear, before the trees have filled with leaves. (Chris Hadfield/NASA)