Southern California-based 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 launched a Dragon capsule that's already traveled there.
The launch of the Dragon spacecraft had been scheduled for just before 3 p.m. Thursday, but lightning near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida forced mission controllers to cancel the liftoff. The company launched Saturday, with a launch window that opened at 2:07 p.m.
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.
This particular Dragon flew to the station in 2014. SpaceX refurbished it for Thursday evening's planned launch, providing a new heat shield and fresh parachutes for re-entry at mission's end. There were so many X-rays and inspections that savings, if any, were minimal this time, said Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of flight reliability for SpaceX.
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The vast majority of this Dragon has already been to space, including the hull, thrusters and tanks. It's packed with 6,000 pounds of station cargo, including a collection of 40 rodents being sent into space as part of a UCLA-led test of an experimental bone-building drug that could lead to a treatment for osteoporosis.
While this Falcon booster is new, SpaceX was slated to attempt to land it at Cape Canaveral following liftoff so it could also be reused. As of Wednesday, first-stage boosters had flown back and landed vertically four times on the designated X at the Air Force station; even more touchdowns have occurred on ocean platforms, all part of an effort to save time and money.
The private SpaceX and NASA are discussing the possibility of flying a reused booster on an upcoming delivery mission.
Koenigsmann told reporters more and more reused capsules will carry cargo to the space station, each possibly flying three times. Dragon capsules are being developed to carry astronauts to the space station as early as next year; it's too soon to say whether those, too, will be recycled, he said.
"Overall a great day," Koenigsmann later told reporters.
"Another wonderful launch," added NASA's Ven Feng, a station manager.
SpaceX chief Elon Musk tweeted early Sunday morning: "It's starting to feel kinda normal to reuse rockets. Good. That's how it is for cars & airplanes and how it should be for rockets."
Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of the return of the first Dragon capsule to visit the space station. This will be the 12th Dragon visit overall and the 11th under NASA contract. The Dragon is the only unmanned supply ship that returns to Earth; the others are filled with trash and burn up on re-entry.
The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.
