SpaceX Fires Up a Second-Hand Booster

On May 5, 2016, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a communication satellite into space. A few minutes later, the automated first stage booster guided itself back to Earth, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. That booster was cleaned up, checked out, refitted, and on July 28, 2016, SpaceX performed a full-duration test firing of it at their Texas McGregor test facility. Watch! This test is a very big deal. The entire purpose of bringing the first stage booster back is to reuse it, s...