Elon Musk is attempting to make history Thursday by launching a used rocket for the first time.
SpaceX, Musk’s spaceflight company, will launch a Falcon 9 rocket that had originally launched and returned to Earth in April 2016. If successful, the launch could pave the way for reusing rockets in the future, cutting the costs of space travel.
Falcon 9 rockets currently cost $54 million, while fuel for each mission only costs $200,000, according to SpaceX’s website.
“The majority of the launch cost comes from building the rocket, which flies only once,” the company says on its website detailing reusability. “Compare that to a commercial airliner. Each plane costs about the same as Falcon 9, but can fly multiple times per day, and conduct tens of thousands of flights over its lifetime.”
The Falcon 9 blasting off on Thursday will attempt to send a communications satellite for a Luxembourg company into orbit.
The rocket launch is scheduled for 6:27 p.m. EDT. Watch it live in the video above.
