Space nerds rejoice: SpaceX is planning a rocket launch double-header in the next 3 days
SpaceX is set to have a big few days.
On Friday, the Elon Musk-founded company is planning to launch a satellite into space aboard a Falcon 9 booster that has already been to space and back once before. The company will then try to land that booster back on Earth again.
Then on Sunday, SpaceX will attempt another rocket launch and landing, while putting a communications satellite into orbit.
The Friday launch, which is expected to carry a communications satellite to orbit for Bulgaria, will take flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Sunday launch will take off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Similarly, Friday's landing attempt of the first stage of the Falcon 9 will occur on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean, while Sunday's attempt will target a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.
On Friday afternoon, after sending BulgariaSat-1-- the nation's first geostationary communications satellite -- on its way to orbit, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket will attempt to land on SpaceX's other drone ship called "Of Course I Still Love You," which is floating in the Atlantic Ocean.
In total, SpaceX has performed 11 successful landings back on Earth.
You can watch the Friday rocket action live in the window below. SpaceX hasn't yet released its Sunday webcast link, but that one should also be livestreamed.
If successful, the Friday launch would be the second time the company has launched and landed a reused booster. This in itself would be a milestone for private sector spaceflight, since reusable rockets is a crucial element of the company's plans to drastically reduce the cost of access to space.
SpaceX's first reused rocket initially flew in April 2016, and again in March 2017.
This launch will mark a much faster turnaround of a reused Falcon 9, potentially bringing it closer to its goal of launching and landing in rapid succession, greatly reducing the cost of launching to space.
It would also ease space industry doubts about whether SpaceX can stick to its ambitious launch schedule for 2017 and beyond.
Musk's goal since founding SpaceX in 2002 has been to make spaceflight cheaper, and all of that hinges upon rocket reusability.
Instead of using a rocket once and discarding it, SpaceX -- and other companies like Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin -- want to use rockets multiple times, reshaping the economics spaceflight.
Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
