Editing Reusable launch vehicle (section)

==== Liftoff stages ====
As of 2024, [[Falcon 9]] and [[Falcon Heavy]] are the only orbital rockets to reuse their boosters, although multiple other systems are in development. All aircraft-launched rockets reuse the aircraft.

Other than that a range of [[Non-rocket launch|non-rocket liftoff systems]] have been proposed and explored over time as reusable systems for liftoff, from balloons<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Reyes|first1=Tim|title=Balloon launcher Zero2Infinity Sets Its Sights to the Stars|journal=Universe Today|date=October 17, 2014|url=http://www.universetoday.com/115391/balloon-launcher-zero2infinity-sets-its-sights-to-the-stars/|access-date=9 July 2015|archive-date=13 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413123411/http://www.universetoday.com/115391/balloon-launcher-zero2infinity-sets-its-sights-to-the-stars/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{relevance inline|date=October 2020}}<!-- it is unclear about how this space launch technology relates to ''reusable'' launch vehicles.  No work seems to be going on to build/test any "non-rocket spacelaunch" technologies to survive atmospheric reentry and thus become reusable. --> to [[space elevator]]s. Existing examples are systems which employ winged horizontal jet-engine powered liftoff. Such aircraft can [[air launch]] expendable rockets and can because of that be considered partially reusable systems if the aircraft is thought of as the first stage of the launch vehicle. An example of this configuration is the [[Orbital Sciences Pegasus]]. For suborbital flight the [[SpaceShipTwo]] uses for liftoff a carrier plane, its [[mothership]] the [[Scaled Composites White Knight Two]]. Rocket Lab is working on [[Rocket Lab Neutron|Neutron]], and the [[European Space Agency]] is working on [[Themis programme|Themis]]. Both vehicles are planned to recover the first stage.<ref>{{cite web |date=15 December 2020 |title=ESA plans demonstration of a reusable rocket stage |url=https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/ESA_plans_demonstration_of_a_reusable_rocket_stage}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=26 June 2023 |title=Everything you need to know about Themis |url=https://europeanspaceflight.substack.com/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ddb}}</ref>