Elon Musk’s SpaceX company made history yesterday after successfully launching a recycled rocket booster for the first time.
The Falcon 9 booster, which was previously used on a mission 11 months ago, helped send a telecommunications satellite into orbit from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
Musk, chief executive of the rocket firm - as well as boss of electric carmaker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) - said: “"I think it's an amazing day for space."
He added: "It means you can fly and re-fly an orbit class booster, which is the most expensive part of the rocket. This is going to be, hopefully, a huge revolution in spaceflight."
Traditionally, rocket boosters have been expendable, with their various segments discarded and destroyed during an ascent.
By contrast, SpaceX aims to recover Falcon first-stage rockets and fly them multiple times to try to reduce the cost of its operations.