SpaceX is starting this year with a major step in one of its most ambitious projects, which could fundamentally change the economics of space-flight the reusable rocket that lands on its legs.

There are just a few reusable spacecraft in circulation at the moment, of which the SpaceX Dragon is one, and with good reason. The stresses of spaceflight are arduous enough, but its the re-entry into Earths atmosphere and subsequent landing somewhere that really trips the engineers up.

So far, the only way to successfully rescue a spacecraft has been to let it crash as gently as possible into an ocean to be recovered by waiting ships or have it land like an aeroplane, as with the Space Shuttle.

But Elon Musks SpaceX wants to take things a bit further. The tech entrepreneurs space venture will be boosting its fifth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station tomorrow and when it does, it plans to attempt the precision landing of the Falcon 9 first stage rocket at the same time.

Autonomous spaceport drone ship for the Falcon 9 reusable rocket. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX reusable rocket is a key feature of its ambitions to build the craft that will take the first people to Mars Mars and its also a technology that could revolutionise space travel, by making it so much cheaper.

The rocket is the most expensive bit of kit involved in a launch and its basically blown up to boost its payload into space, with whatevers left ejected into Earths orbit to clutter the place up with space debris or drift back to a fiery death in Earths atmosphere.

The Falcon 9, which has already had two successful soft water landings, will try something brand new, landing on legs on a custom-built ocean platform known as the autonomous spaceport drone ship.

SpaceX is only giving this first test of the technology a 50/50 chance of success, because theres a lot to get through before it touches down on that platform.

In order to land the 14-storey tall rocket precisely, the team needs to both stabilise it and slow it down, something the firm compares to .

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SpaceX To Test Revolutionary Rocket's Sea-Legs With Drone Ship Landing