Spacex relaunches Dragon capsule and successfully lands rocket stage

Spacex unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off carrying a Dragon capsule that made a station delivery nearly three years ago. The refurbished Dragon capsule is the first returning craft since NASA’s now-retired shuttles.

The first-stage booster flown Saturday afternoon was brand new, and as is now the custom, returned to Cape Canaveral following liftoff for a successful vertical touchdown.

The plan is to launch the booster again, instead of junking it in the ocean as so many other rocket makers do. Just two months ago, SpaceX launched its first recycled booster on a satellite mission. Another flight featuring a reused booster is coming up later this month.