SpaceX reflies a Falcon 9 booster for the first time
The same rocket stage that launched cargo to the ISS flies again, carrying a satellite to orbit
Quick facts
- Company
- SpaceX
- Mission
- SES-10
- Booster's first flight
- CRS-8, 8 April 2016
- Turnaround
- ~11.5 months
What happened
On 30 March 2017, SpaceX launched the SES-10 communications satellite aboard a Falcon 9 whose first stage had already flown once before, on the CRS-8 cargo mission to the International Space Station on 8 April 2016. It was the first time an orbital-class rocket first stage had been recovered, refurbished, and successfully launched a second time, achieved in just under a year of turnaround between flights. The booster launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A and, after separating from the second stage, landed again on a drone ship positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell called the flight the demonstration that the company's reuse technology genuinely worked, not just as a landing exercise but as a complete reflight.
Why it matters
The reflight was the missing half of the reusability argument: landing a booster proves it survives, but only a successful second launch proves it can be reflown safely and economically, and this flight became the technical basis for SpaceX's later routine reuse of boosters across dozens of missions per year.
How we know
SpaceNews's contemporary report on the SES-10 launch documents the booster's prior CRS-8 flight, the landing, and Shotwell's quote about the flight's significance, matching details SpaceX itself confirmed at the time.
Sources
- SpaceNews. SpaceX demonstrates rocket reusability with SES-10 launch and booster landing · Reputable sourcespacenews.com · The domain "spacenews.com" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- AmericaSpace. SpaceX Scores New Record for Pad 39A, Launches & Lands First Reused Falcon-9 · General sourceamericaspace.com · Cited as a "news" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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