In a first attempt of its kind California based space transport services company, Space X will try to bring the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back to Earth for a controlled landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch scheduled to take place on Dec. 16 from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which will send SpaceX’s robotic Dragon capsule toward the International Space Station.

The historic attempt marks a big step forward in SpaceX’s development of reusable-rocket technology. The company’s founder Elon Musk mentions that the success of this particular maneuver will eventually help cut the cost of spaceflight by a factor of 100 and perhaps make the colonization of mars economically feasible.

Musk shared photos of the Falcon 9 and landing platform via Twitter late last month, ratcheting up interest in the cargo mission, the fifth of 12 unmanned resupply flights SpaceX will make to the space station for NASA under a $1.6 billion contract.

“Autonomous spaceport drone ship. Thrusters repurposed from deep sea oil rigs hold position within 3m even in a storm,” Musk tweeted about the platform on Nov. 22. “Base is 300 ft by 100 ft, with wings that extend width to 170 ft. Will allow refuel & rocket flyback in future,” he added in another tweet.

Musk estimated a 50 percent chance of success for the platform landing on the first attempt, but said the odds would improve on subsequent missions.

SpaceX has attempted soft ocean splashdowns of the Falcon 9 first stage on three recent launches — in September 2013, and in April and July of this year. During the September 2013 attempt, technicians were able to relight the first-stage engine twice, but the booster ended up hitting the water hard. On the two subsequent attempts, the rocket stage made a successful, controlled descent to the water’s surface, SpaceX representatives said — but there was no platform to land on.