Slow-motion footage of Space X rocket launches are mesmerising

One of the coolest things about rockets, is that they go unbelievably fast – relatively speaking. But that makes actually seeing everything they do rather difficult, especially when you factor in all of that light and exhaust. Fortunately Space X has some ultra-slow motion footage to give us a better look and it really is quite amazing. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKqY8sy3nkM']

The footage shows everything from launch pad ignition, through up close clips of the nine Merlin engines firing, stage separation, passing through the sound barrier and the first stage booster's return to Earth. It's a celebration of fire, flame and human ingenuity in a great minute and a half of video.

Although Space X developments are far from the only impressive space ventures taking place in the world right now, it has captured many people's imaginations with its drive for more efficient space launches and the fact that it's managed to save the first stage of its rocket launch system several times over the past year.

So far it has returned five first stage boosters from Falcon 9 launches with plans to continue doing so with future launches into low-Earth orbit. However the big test will come in the coming months, when we expect to see the first booster re-used from previous missions, potentially saving millions of dollars in the process.

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KitGuru Says: This footage really is quite amazing. It's so cool to see the engines burning in that kind of detail. Normally you just see white. 

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