SpaceX and commercialization of space travel

Space X, the Elon Musk venture, recently hit the headlines world over with its Falcon 9 rocket not only managing to launch 11 satellites, but also managing to return the booster safely back to earth - for the first time ever! So what's so special about this event you may ask. The answer is getting the booster to land back safely on earth means it can be re-used for future launches of payloads (men / material) into space, which in turn means further reduction in the cost of space launches, which in turn opens up a whole new world for space exploration as well as growth of space tourism.

Links to a detailed write-up on this feat as appearing in the Wired magazine are given below.

http://www.wired.com/2015/12/spacex-just-landed-rocket-ground-first-time/

http://www.wired.com/2015/12/watch-spacex-launch-maybe-land-powerful-rocket-yet/