Space Force clears SpaceX to launch reused rockets for military missions - CNBC

The next SpaceX launch will feature a milestone, as the Pentagon is allowing Elon Musk's company to send a national security satellite to orbit with a reused rocket for the first time.

SpaceX is set to launch the GPS III SV05 satellite for the Space Force on Thursday from Florida, using the Falcon 9 rocket booster that launched the GPS III SV04 satellite last November.

The Space and Missiles Systems Center last year modified the contracts for SpaceX's next two GPS III satellite launches to allow reuse, a move that the military estimated will save about $64 million.

Notably, Space Force required that SpaceX use the same booster to launch SV05 that launched the SV04 satellite.

Lauderdale said Space and Missiles Systems Center has "no other constraints" for how the company uses the Falcon 9 booster in the future, and highlighted that Space Force is also open to flying national security payloads that launched on boosters from non-military missions.