The ‘Recycling’ Road to Space

Recover, relaunch, reduce costs: That’s the goal for SpaceX, which is set to make history Thursday by sending cargo into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket that’s already launched successfully and returned to Earth safely.

The company is aiming for the capability to do it routinely, saving millions on each launch and thereby making it markedly cheaper to get off the planet.

To date, SpaceX has landed and recovered eight rockets — that is, the large first stage of the ship: three on ground pads and five at sea. The rocket that is launching Thursday (weather-permitting) sent NASA cargo to the International Space Station a year ago, then was the first successful recovery.

SpaceX has been working toward this moment for the last five years, The Verge reported: Company head Elon Musk is determined to slash the costs of leaving Earth, starting with vehicles that run tens of millions of dollars for a single use. That opportunity could just have arrived. “We’re at the edge of quite a significant bit of history here,” notes Martin Halliwell, the chief technology officer at SES, whose satellite is the rocket’s cargo. “We’ve been through this thing with a fine-toothed comb. SpaceX have been through this with a finetoothed comb. This booster is a really good booster, and we’re confident.”

Here’s to them flying high.