How Reusable Rockets Work

The Space Race · June 7, 2025 · 14:47 · English · Documentary

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Video from the channel The Space Race about Falcon 9, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 14:47. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

What it covers

An explanation of the principles common to reusable rockets, using the Falcon 9 as a reference, which according to the video is the only booster that has demonstrated systematic reuse. It focuses on the propulsion stage and sets orbiters aside.

Historical context

The video notes that conventional boosters end up at the bottom of the ocean and that the space shuttle already recovered its solid-fuel side boosters with parachutes. SpaceX opted for vertical takeoff and landing: in 2012 the Grasshopper demonstrator began flying, completing eight hops in a year, and between 2013 and 2015 the Falcon 9 tested soft water landings by relighting the center engine over the sea. It also mentions attempts by Rocket Lab, by Blue Origin with New Glenn, and Starship's booster.

Key facts

The ingredients it describes are engines capable of greatly reducing their thrust, many small engines instead of a few large ones, the ability to relight them in flight, and fuel reserves for the return. After separating at about 80 km altitude, the stage turns using cold-gas nitrogen thrusters, performs the boostback burn with all nine engines, slows with the reentry burn, and is guided by grid fins using inertial navigation and GPS. Finally, it lands with a single engine at minimum thrust and with the legs deployed using helium.