Editing Spaceflight (section)

==== Reusable ====
{{Main|Reusable launch system}}
The first reusable spacecraft, the [[X-15]], was air-launched on a suborbital trajectory on 19 July 1963. The first partially reusable orbital spacecraft, the [[Space Shuttle]], was launched by the USA on the 20th anniversary of [[Yuri Gagarin]]'s flight, on 12 April 1981. During the Shuttle era, six orbiters were built, all of which flown in the atmosphere and five of which flown in space. The ''[[Space Shuttle Enterprise|Enterprise]]'' was used only for approach and landing tests, launching from the back of a [[Boeing 747]] and gliding to deadstick landings at [[Edwards AFB, California]]. The first Space Shuttle to fly into space was the ''[[Space Shuttle Columbia|Columbia]]'', followed by the ''[[Space Shuttle Challenger|Challenger]]'', ''[[Space Shuttle Discovery|Discovery]]'', ''[[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Atlantis]]'', and ''[[Space Shuttle Endeavour|Endeavour]]''. The ''Endeavour'' was built to replace the ''Challenger'', which was [[STS-51-L|lost]] in January 1986. The ''Columbia'' [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|broke up]] during reentry in February 2003.

The first automatic partially reusable spacecraft was the ''[[Shuttle Buran|Buran]]'' (''Snowstorm''), launched by the USSR on 15 November 1988, although it made only one flight. This [[spaceplane]] was designed for a crew and strongly resembled the US Space Shuttle, although its drop-off boosters used liquid propellants and its main engines were located at the base of what would be the external tank in the American Shuttle. Lack of funding, complicated by the dissolution of the USSR, prevented any further flights of Buran.

The Space Shuttle was retired in 2011 due mainly to its old age. The Shuttle's human transport role is to be replaced by the [[SpaceX Dragon 2]] and [[CST-100]] in the 2020s. The Shuttle's heavy cargo transport role is now done by commercial launch vehicles.

[[Scaled Composites]] [[SpaceShipOne]] was a reusable [[suborbital spaceplane]] that carried pilots [[Mike Melvill]] and [[Brian Binnie]] on consecutive flights in 2004 to win the [[Ansari X Prize]]. [[The Spaceship Company]] has built its successor [[SpaceShipTwo]]. A fleet of SpaceShipTwos operated by [[Virgin Galactic]] planned to begin reusable [[private spaceflight]] carrying paying passengers ([[space tourism|space tourists]]) in 2008, but this was delayed due to an accident in the propulsion development.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-plans-held-up-by-testing-accident-217949/ Launch aircraft development continues while suborbital ship awaits investigation into fatal explosion in California], retrieved 2012-01-27.</ref>

[[SpaceX]] achieved the first vertical soft landing of a reusable orbital rocket stage on December 21, 2015, after delivering 11 [[Orbcomm OG-2]] commercial satellites into [[low Earth orbit]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/679114269485436928|title=SpaceX on Twitter|work=Twitter}}</ref>

The first Falcon 9 reflight occurred on 30 March 2017.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2017/mar/31/spacex-successfuly-launches-first-recycled-rocket-video|title=SpaceX {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|successful|y}} launches first recycled rocket – video|date=31 March 2017|agency=Reuters|work=The Guardian}}</ref> SpaceX now routinely recovers and reuses [[SpaceX reusable launch system development program|their first stages and fairings]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.space.com/spacex-reuse-payload-fairing-starlink-launch.html |title = SpaceX Recovered Falcon Heavy Nose Cone, Plans to Re-fly it This Year (Photos)|website = [[Space.com]]| date=12 April 2019 }}</ref> SpaceX is now developing a fully reusable super heavy lift rocket known as [[SpaceX Starship|Starship]], with the goal of drastically reducing the price of space exploration.<ref name="cnn-20190929">{{Cite news |last=Wattles |first=Jackie |date=29 September 2019 |title=Elon Musk says SpaceX's Mars rocket will be cheaper than he once thought. Here's why |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/business/elon-musk-spacex-mars-starship-cost/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626040403/https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/business/elon-musk-spacex-mars-starship-cost/index.html |archive-date=26 June 2023 |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=[[CNN Business]]}}</ref> As of April 2025, three Super Heavy boosters, the first stage of Starship, have been recovered.<ref name="NSF-B12-rollback">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSCWaT_ff_8 |title=SpaceX Rolls Booster 12 to the Production Site After Catch {{!}} Starbase |date=2024-10-15 |publisher=NASASpaceflight |access-date=2024-10-15 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nM3vGdanpw |title=SpaceX Launches Starship Flight 7 and Attempts Another Booster Catch |date=2025-01-09 |last=NASASpaceflight |access-date=2025-01-17 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kzdUmBIUus |title=SpaceX Starship Flight 8 - Second Attempt |date=2025-03-06 |last=NASASpaceflight |access-date=2025-04-22 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

{{multiple image
 | total_width = 
 | align  = center
 | image1 = X-15 flying.jpg
 | caption1 = The [[X-15]] pulling away from its drop launch plane
 | image2 = Space Shuttle Columbia launching.jpg
 | caption2 = The {{OV|102}} seconds after engine ignition on mission [[STS-1]]
 | image3 = SpaceShipOne Flight 15P photo D Ramey Logan.jpg
 | caption3 = [[SpaceShipOne]] after its flight into space, 21 June 2004
 | image4 = ORBCOMM-2 (23282658734).jpg
 | caption4 = [[Falcon 9 Flight 20]]'s first stage landing vertically on [[Landing Zone 1]] in December 2015 
}}