US spaceflight company SpaceX has today successfully reused a Falcon 9 rocket first stage as part of a satellite launch.
This is the first time that any private or government entity has ever successfully re-flown an orbital rocket booster, making it a significant historical milestone.
The booster in question, making up the first stage of the Falcon 9, had first flown in a mission last year, before safely landing back on Earth.
It was then refurbished and tested, before being integrated into another Falcon 9 rocket which completed a successful launch today.
As well, SpaceX managed to once again land the reused first stage, opening up for the possibility that it could be flown still more times.
The rocket itself carried a communications satellite to geostationary orbit for Luxembourg-based telecommunications company SES.
According to information released by SpaceX, the SES-10 satellite was placed in a geostationary transfer orbit with no apparent problems.
Following the launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated his company for their historic achievement.
“This is an amazing day for space as a whole […] for the space industry. It means you can fly and refly an orbit-class booster which is the most expensive part of the rocket. This will be a huge revolution in spaceflight,” Musk said.
“It’s been 15 years to get to this point. I am incredibly proud of the SpaceX team […] proving that something could be done that many people said was impossible.”
Reuse economics key to cheaper spaceflight
While this reflight was a significant technical achievement for the company, its economic implications will be felt much further.
Should SpaceX continue to prove that it can consistently fly and refly rockets, it could cut down the price of spaceflight by an order of magnitude.
Even on this first flight, SES reportedly received a significant discount for flying on a used rocket, rather than a brand new one.
Into the future, such reuse will be critical to making SpaceX’s more ambitious plans (such Mars missions) an economic possibility.