OTD In Space – March 30: SpaceX Launches And Lands Used Rocket In Historic 1st Re-Flight

On March 30, 2017, SpaceX launched and landed a used rocket for the first time.

This was a huge step forward in SpaceX's plight to develop fully reusable rockets and reduce launch costs. The Falcon 9 rocket had completed a previous mission almost a year earlier, when it launched SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. The rocket booster then landed vertically on one of SpaceX's drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean, and this was the first successful drone ship landing for SpaceX. The company refurbished the rocket to prepare it for a second flight. This time the Falcon 9 launched a communications satellite called SES-10. It lifted off from Kennedy Space Center and stuck another awesome drone-ship landing after delivering the satellite into orbit.