SpaceX taking recycling all the way to orbit with cargo ship
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX is taking recycling to a whole new realm — all the way to orbit.
On this week’s supply run to the International Space Station, SpaceX will launch a Dragon capsule that’s already travelled there. The milestone comes just two months after the launch of its first reused rocket booster for a satellite.
“This whole notion of reuse is something that’s very, very important to the entire space industry,” NASA’s space station program manager Kirk Shireman said at a news conference Wednesday.
While the concept is not new — the space shuttles, for instance, flew multiple times in orbit — it’s important for saving money as well as technical reasons, he noted.