As it prepares for its first official resupply mission to the international space station, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is also testing cornerstone technology for a future fly-back booster system that could allow the Hawthorne, Calif., company to reuse the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket.

This post is only available to members.

Dan Leone is the NASA reporter for SpaceNews, where he also covers other civilian-run U.S. government space programs and a growing number of entrepreneurial space companies. He joined SpaceNews in 2011.Dan earned a bachelor's degree in public communications...