SpaceX is already one of the biggest players in the private space industry, but its next launch on Thursday could cement its place in history.
Thursday’s launch could be the first to successfully reuse a rocket, according to The Verge. It’s a watershed moment in space history and one that SpaceX has been spent five years working towards.
Around this time last year, SpaceX used its Falcon 9 rocket to send cargo to the International Space Station and it safely returned to Earth by landing on a floating pad in the ocean—the first rocket in history to land at sea.
The space company has been developing rockets that could land safely on Earth for the purpose of re-using them, which would save hundreds of millions. To date, rockets used by NASA and other space agencies have been single-use only. SpaceX has successfully landed 8 of its 13 rockets, The Verge reports.
Thursday’s launch is scheduled between 6-8:30 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida will be the first step in Space-X’s plan. The company plans to reuse its rockets up to 20 times, but it’s got to prove itself with one first.
—RealClearLife
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