California's Space X Company is planning to make history by re-launching a Falcon Rocket. It is a known fact that rockets are used only once and all the elements of the rocket are discarded in getting a satellite payload into the orbit. It appears that Space X is going to break the traditional way by re-flying a Falcon.
Space X has become successful in landing its boosters safely back on earth after a mission, and they are all set to put one of their flight proven vehicles on the launch pad again. The Chief Technical Officer of SES Martin Halliwell stated that this is not just an issue about the money. In fact it is a question if re-usability will lead to cheaper prices.
For Space X it is about having a route to space, and this might be a great way to figure out if a used rocket can be used once again. There might be certain alterations that have to be made, probably there will be lots of work on the rocket but this is not impossible.
Reliability is also a critical aspect and re-using stages is part of Space X's strategy, this is a project that will try to lower the cost of access to space. The opportunities to fly the big telecom satellites in space are limited by the availability of capable vehicles. According to BBC, the commercial launch industry is constraint to just three major providers.
The SES will be trying to put up 10 satellites this year and four satellites in its medium orbit constellation. Getting away from expandable rockets has been a long quest, but the well known NASA's space shuttle system was partially re-usable. Space X will continue on its project to launch a used rocket and this could turn out to be successful.
