The next SpaceX launch will feature a milestone, as the Pentagon is allowing Elon Musk's company to send a national security satellite to orbit w

Space Force clears SpaceX to launch reused rockets for military missions

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2021-06-15 01:30:09

The next SpaceX launch will feature a milestone, as the Pentagon is allowing Elon Musk's company to send a national security satellite to orbit with a reused rocket for the first time.

SpaceX is set to launch the GPS III SV05 satellite for the Space Force on Thursday from Florida, using the Falcon 9 rocket booster that launched the GPS III SV04 satellite last November. The company's Falcon 9 rockets are partially reusable, as SpaceX regularly lands the boosters – the largest and most expensive part of the rocket – and then launches again.

"In preparation for this first time event we've worked closely with SpaceX to understand the refurbishment processes and are confident that this rocket is ready for its next flight," Dr. Walter Lauderdale, deputy mission director of the U.S. Space Force's Space and Missiles Systems Center, told reporters during a briefing on Monday.

The Pentagon awarded SpaceX with five of the six GPS III satellite launch contracts to date, with the GPS III SV02 mission the only one launched by competitor United Launch Alliance – the rocket-building joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Those five launch contracts total $469.8 million and originally did not include the option for SpaceX to reuse its Falcon 9 rockets.

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