In December 2015, the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket successfully completed an upright landing on solid ground after putting its cargo in orbit. Blue Origin—which is Bezos’s private spaceflight company—also landed the reusable booster stage of its New Shepard rocket back on Earth after sending it to space. Since then, both companies have refurbished and reused numerous recovered rocket stages, sending them back out to space like certified pre-owned cars. What was once a wild experiment is on its way to becoming routine.
