A bid to land a leftover booster from a rocket delivering goods to the International Space Station on an ocean barge has failed.

The SpaceX company said that it successfully launched another fresh load of supplies to the International Space Station.

But its revolutionary attempt to land the leftover booster on an ocean barge did not fare as well.

The firm's billionaire founder Elon Musk says the first stage of the unmanned Falcon rocket made it to the platform floating a couple of hundred miles off Florida's north-eastern coast.

But he says the booster came down too hard and broke apart.

While saying that the attempt bodes well for the future, Mr Musk added: "Close, but no cigar this time."

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