Reusable Rockets

             One of the costliest aspects of space exploration is the building of sophisticated and powerful rockets capable of transporting thousands of pounds of equipment into space. The fact that we have figured out how to land rockets -- even the large ones used to launch the Falcon Heavy -- will help to reduce the cost of space travel.

           A reusable launch system (RLS, or reusable launchvehicle, RLV) is a space launch system intended to allow for recovery of all or part of the system for later reuse. To date, several fully reusable sub-orbital systems and partially reusable orbital systems have been flown. NASA's space shuttle was the world's first reusable spacecraft.

           It launched like arocket and returned to Earth like a glider. It was designed to carry large payloads — such as satellites — into orbit and bring them back, if necessary, for repairs.

 To date, several fully reusable sub-orbital systems and partially reusable orbital systems have been flown. However the design issues are extremely challenging and no fully reusable orbital launch system has yet been demonstrated.