SpaceX is ready to boldly go where no company has gone before by sending a satellite into space on a recycled rocket.
Elon Musk’s private space company has been on an successful streak since December, landing six rockets on land and at sea.
They’re now ready to attempt their first-ever launch of a recycled rocket and will be sending a satellite into orbit for SES, a Luxembourg based satellite operator.
“Re-launching a rocket that has already delivered spacecraft to orbit is an important milestone on the path to complete and rapid reusability,” Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX said in a statement.
While no date has been announced for the launch, a SpaceX representative confirmed to NBC News the company will attempt to land the recycled booster at sea for a second time.
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Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has said he believes reusing rockets — which cost as much as a commercial airliner — could greatly reduce the cost of getting to space.
While many other rockets burn up on re-entry, SpaceX designed one that is able to withstand the heat of re-entry and land vertically so it can be used again on a future launch.
Fellow tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, who runs rocket company Blue Origin, has also shown an interest in reusing rockets. The Amazon CEO has been launching and landing a suborbital rocket for months on test flights.
