SpaceX Launches Recycled Satellite To Save Money

HAWTHORNE, CA – SpaceX made its second satellite launch in just four days Wednesday, marking the third mission of the year reusing a rocket as the firm continues to perfect its cost-saving process of space-flight recycling. The pre-used Falcon 9 rocket launched a little before 4 p.m. California time from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the EchoStar 105/SES-11 commercial communications satellite into orbit.

The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, after lifting the satellite-carrying second stage into orbit, made a successful upright landing a short time later on the whimsically named barge "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Atlantic Ocean. It marked the 18th time the Hawthorne-based SpaceX has successfully recovered the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket.

The rocket used in Wednesday's launch was previously used in February for an International Space Station supply mission.

The flight marked the third time SpaceX has conducted a mission with a pre-used Falcon 9 rocket. Recycled rockets were also used in missions in March and June. The company and founder Elon Musk have touted the rocket-recovery and recycling process as a way to save millions of dollars by re-using the equipment instead of merely allowing it to burn up in the atmosphere.

According to SpaceX, the satellite launched into orbit Wednesday is a "high-powered hybrid Ku and C-band communications satellite" built for United States-based EchoStar and Luxembourg-based SES.

The launch was SpaceX's 15th of the year. On Sunday, SpaceX successfully propelled 10 satellites into orbit aboard a rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Photo via Getty Images and Bill Ingalls/NASA