The SpaceX philosophy is that the majority of the rocket can be rapidly recovered, refuelled and reflown, making for significant cost savings.
On Friday 8 April 2016, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched a mission to deliver a spacecraft called Dragon with its payload of supplies and experiments into a trajectory towards the International Space Station (ISS). Most remarkably, the first-stage booster then landed on a ship (see below).
This is no easy task. Think back to 1969 when the Apollo 11 mission delivered three astronauts to the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon while Michael Collins piloted the command module in lunar orbit. All three returned safely to Earth.
The first stage of the huge Saturn V rocket that launched them into space burned for about three minutes and then crashed into the ocean. The second stage burned for a further six minutes, taking the craft into near-Earth orbit. It too was jettisoned and then burned up during its descent to Earth. The third stage burned for nine more minutes to send the astronauts towards the moon – again burning up on re-entry. The Saturn V rocket, at a cost of US$6 billion in 1969, was completely lost.