Main Engine Cut Off

Jean-Yves Le Gall, president of the French space agency, CNES — who is worried enough about the SpaceX advance to have started a small reusable-rocket-engine program in Europe — agreed that what SpaceX did March 30 was “a breakthrough.” But he said the hard job is yet to come.

“After recovery, now the reuse,” Le Gall told the French financial daily, Les Echos. “The final step [for SpaceX] is cost reduction. Logically, if you reuse material, the cost should drop. But it all depends on the refurbishment cost. The day when a rocket can land and take off without interruption is not yet here, in my view.”