As SpaceX makes progress toward what it hopes will be the successful recovery of the spent payload fairings of its Falcon 9 rockets for reuse on future missions, the company is also studying the use of inflatable aerodynamic decelerators as part of more ambitious reuse plans for the vehicle’s upper stage. SpaceX, which now routinely recovers used booster stages for reuse following the first successful first-stage landing in December 2015, has made no secret of its plans to reuse as ...
