Land, refuel and then back up again, with everything leading to one day putting humanity "out there among the stars.SpaceX successfully launched and then retrieved its first recycled rocket Thursday, a historic feat and the biggest leap yet in its bid to drive down costs and speed up flights. "Its a bit sooty," he said with a smile. He brought all five of his young sons to the launch - and the news conference that followed - wanting them to be witness to history-in-the-making.Boosters - the most expensive part of the rocket, according to Musk - typically are discarded following liftoff, sinking into the Atlantic.NASA also has shared the quest for rocket reusability."Musk foresees dozens if not hundreds of repeat flights for a booster and rocket turnarounds of as little as 24 hours, perhaps by next year. He called it "a big step for everybody - something thats never, ever been done before.As for this SpaceX reused booster, Halliwell said engineers went through it with a fine-toothed comb following its liftoff in April 2016. But no more. SES had special access; the satellite provider, after all, has a long history with SpaceX. He was at a loss for words after the Falcon 9 core landed on the bulls-eye of the ocean platform following liftoff with a broadcasting satellite, achieving what some had once told him was impossible."SpaceX granted SES insight into the entire process of getting the booster ready to fly again, Halliwell said, providing confidence everything would go well. Musks ultimate goal is to establish a human settlement on Mars.Besides becoming the first commercial cargo hauler to the International Space Station, SpaceX is building a capsule to launch NASA astronauts as soon as next year.Longtime customer SES got empty pill capsules wholesale a discount for agreeing to use a salvaged rocket, but wouldnt say how much."This particular first stage landed on an ocean platform almost exactly a year ago after a space station launch for NASA. SES, in fact, is considering more launches later this year on reused Falcon boosters. At a news conference, Musk personally thanked Halliwell for having faith in SpaceX. The booster segments were mixed and matched for each flight. SpaceX refurbished and tested the 15-foot booster, still sporting its nine original engines.

Its also working to fly two paying customers to the moon next year, and is developing the Red Dragon, a robotic spacecraft intended to launch to Mars in 2020 and land. "Just opened the door into a whole new era of spaceflight.SpaceX - which aims to launch up to six reused boosters this year, two of them with the yet-to-fly, super-sized Falcon Heavy in late summer - is familiar with uncharted territory.""Absolutely astounding," Halliwell said after his companys satellite reached the proper orbit.It was the first time SpaceX founder Elon Musk tried to fly a booster that soared before on an orbital mission.Blue Origin, an aerospace company started by another tech billionaire, Jeff Bezos, already has reflown a rocket.Musk said this day was 15 years in coming and that, all told, the reusability effort has cost the company at least $1 billion, which will take time to recoup. SpaceX posted a help wanted ad on its webcast following the launch.On Thursday, the company even managed to recover the Falcons $6 million satellite enclosure, which used thrusters and parachutes to drop into the Atlantic. During the space shuttle program, the twin booster rockets dropped away two minutes into flight and parachuted into the Atlantic for recovery. Until Thursday, trying to retrieve the second stage used to get the satellite into the proper, high orbit seemed like a "Hail Mary" pass, Musk said. These flights, however, were suborbital; in other words, nothing went into orbit. SpaceX began flying back the Falcons first-stage, kerosene-fueled boosters in 2015; its since landed eight boosters, three at Cape Canaveral and five on ocean platforms - actually, six times at sea counting Thursdays redo.Key to all of this, according to Musk, is the rapid, repeating turnaround of rockets - and employees. It was fitting, he noted, that the rocket took off from NASAs Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, the starting point for the Apollo moon shots decades ago."Youve got to get away from the idea that its secondhand," Halliwell told reporters.Halliwell wasnt so sure, though, about the cleaning job."This is a huge day.

It nailed another vertical landing at sea Thursday once it was finished boosting the satellite for the SES company of Luxembourg.Future refights wont need as much work, Musk conceded,Given its historic mission, the booster will not fly again, Musk said, but rather remain at Cape Canaveral for viewing. He called it an "incredible milestone in the history of space" and predicted, "this is going to be a huge revolution in spaceflight.. My minds blown, frankly," Musk said. Its not just about the savings, said chief technology officer Martin Halliwell. A SES spacecraft was on board for SpaceXs first commercial satellite launch in 2013. SpaceX employees jammed outside Mission Control at the Hawthorne, California, company headquarters cheered loudly every step of the way - and again when the satellite reached its proper orbit. One of his New Shepard rockets, in fact, has soared five times from Texas. "Flight proven," Musk quickly added, his preferred term.