This is one my pedantic pet peeves. The vehicle is has never entered before, so it’s not true that this is a “re” entry. If SpaceX uses it for another mission (unlikely — I’ll bet it goes to the Smithsonian), then it would be a reentry.

Anyway, either way, it should be down within the hour, and if it is, that will be pretty much a perfect flight (with the exception of the LIDAR issue with Kibo during final approach).

[9:09 PDT update]

Dragon has landed, according to SpaceX. Well, splashed down, anyway. Not sure that “landed” is the right term here.

[Update after reading email]

I only glanced at the subject. In the body of the email, it says “Dragon has (splash) landed.”

OK, back in the office after over a week of travel to DC and the Bay area.

Over in this comment thread, the question arises of the disposition of the first-stage from last week’s launch. I was wondering too, so at the gala banquet at the Air and Space Museum on Friday night to honor John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, I asked Stephanie Badnarek, director of government relations for SpaceX. As I suspected, she told me that they’re not worrying about recovery of the first stage right now, and probably won’t until they start to attempt to fly it back, pending results of the Grasshopper flights. That wouldn’t surprise me — I don’t think they’ve come even close to an intact entry, and the recovery systems are just parasitic weight at this point.

[Update a couple minutes later]

Clark Lindsey has some notes from the SpaceX press conference on the mission so far, and plans for Dragon entry tomorrow.

SpaceX has signed on their first commercial customer for Falcon Heavy:

Washington, DC / Hawthorne, CA May 29, 2012 – Today, Intelsat, the world’s leading provider of satellite services, and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the world’s fastest growing space launch company, announced the first commercial contract for the Falcon Heavy rocket.

“SpaceX is very proud to have the confidence of Intelsat, a leader in the satellite communication services industry,” said Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer. “The Falcon Heavy has more than twice the power of the next largest rocket in the world. With this new vehicle, SpaceX launch systems now cover the entire spectrum of the launch needs for commercial, civil and national security customers.”

“Timely access to space is an essential element of our commercial supply chain,” said Thierry Guillemin, Intelsat CTO. “As a global leader in the satellite sector, our support of successful new entrants to the commercial launch industry reduces risk in our business model. Intelsat has exacting technical standards and requirements for proven flight heritage for our satellite launches. We will work closely with SpaceX as the Falcon Heavy completes rigorous flight tests prior to our future launch requirements.”

This is the first commercial contract for SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. Under the agreement, an Intelsat satellite will be launched into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

I’m guessing that last week’s successful Falcon 9 flight sealed the deal.

Apparently, SpaceX got permission to approach, and are just outside the Keep-Out Zone, a few hundred feet away. The grab may occur within an hour or so.