James Dean , FLORIDA TODAY Published 2:31 p.m. ET April 7, 2017
COLORADO SPRINGS — The U.S. military is open to launching missions on used SpaceX rockets that could benefit national security by lowering launch costs and increasing flight opportunities from Cape Canaveral, the leader of Air Force Space Command said this week.
"I would be comfortable with flying with a reused booster," Gen. John “Jay” Raymond told reporters at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. "They’ve proven they can do it. It’s going to get us to lower cost, it’s going to get us to being able to get satellites in orbit. That’s why they bring the boosters back. I think we’d be hard-pressed to say we’re not going to do it. We would embrace that."
SpaceX on March 30 launched a commercial satellite to orbit from Kennedy Space Center with a Falcon 9 rocket whose first stage had launched a NASA mission a year earlier. It was the first time a large, liquid-fueled rocket boosted two different missions to orbit.
"SpaceX just launched the first certified, pre-owned, reusable launch vehicle," Lt. Gen. David Buck, commander of the 14th Air Force and the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, said in the same news conference. "That’s pretty incredible. We have to embrace the technology."
More:
http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2017/04/07/air-force-open-flying-used-spacex-rockets/100169208/
