Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing to launch a reused rocket for the very first time.
Reusability is particularly important because it could lead to lowered space travel costs in the future.
The news was announced at Satellite 2017, a conference in Washington, Bloomberg reports.
The launch will happen by the end of the month, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, said. The company will reuse a Falcon 9 rocket to carry a satellite.
“SpaceX has been working on reusability since the get go,” Shotwell said.
The company made headlines recently after it announced that it intends to send two private citizens on a trip to the moon next year. Reusable rockets could make such space tourism excursions more common.
