SpaceX entered the next phase of its reusable rocket program on Thursday (July 28) after successfully test firing one of its Falcon 9 rockets that was used in a previous launch back in May.
In a video release by the space company, the rocket stage was able to burn for a "full duration," which is about two minutes and 30 seconds.
SpaceX vice president for flight reliability Hans Koenigsmann had previously revealed that they are looking to launch a Falcon 9 rocket by fall, provided that they are able to find a client for the upcoming flight.
Earlier this month, the space company announced that it is also planning to relaunch one of its previously used Dragon cargo capsules for a future delivery run to the International Space Station (ISS).
Lowering Space Launch Costs
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has expressed his commitment to making space launches more affordable by doing away with one-time use first stage engines and replacing them with reusable rocket boosters.
As part of its program, the company has already launched and landed five of its Falcon 9 rockets since December of last year. However, it has yet to relaunch any of those retrieved rockets boosters so far.
Last week's test fire was conducted at SpaceX's Rocket Development and Test Facility in McGregor, Texas. The Falcon 9 rocket that was tested was originally used to deliver the Japanese-owned JCSAT-14 communications satellite into space on May 6.
While the rocket booster is not expected to be used in another spaceflight again, its test fire was able to provide SpaceX engineers with information on how the rocket is able to handle repeated burns. These data will be invaluable especially since the company is planning to reuse another Falcon 9 rocket to launch a Dragon cargo ship for an upcoming delivery mission to the ISS.
Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, said they hope that the success of their reusable rocket boosters would allow them to cut the usual $61 million space launch costs by as much as one-third of its price.
SpaceX is not the only one dabbling in the development of reusable rockets, as other private space companies have also launched their own programs, with the goal of providing the most cost-effective option for space travel.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin spaceflight company has already conducted several launches of its New Shepard suborbital spacecraft. It has begun development on a reusable orbital spacecraft as well.
