SpaceX to launch a 'used rocket' for the first time

We travel in used cars and used airplanes, so why not used rockets?

Even though no people are going be in it, SpaceX, for the first time, is about to launch a rocket that has been used on a previous flight. But how did it accomplish this, and what is the company's eventually goal for reusing rockets?

In IT Blogwatch, we are ready for blast off.

So what is going on? William Harwood has the background:

SpaceX is readying a Falcon 9 rocket for launch Thursday to boost an SES communications satellite into orbit, the first flight of a booster built with a previously flown...first stage. The...flight is a major step in SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s drive to lower launch costs by recovering, refurbishing and relaunching rocket stages that otherwise would be discarded after a single flight.

This has been the plan all along, right? Kerry Sheridan is in the know:

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