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SES will launch a satellite using one of SpaceX's "flight-proven" rockets, or in other words, used goods:
The telecommunications giant SES is boldly going where no company has gone before by making history in inking a deal today, Aug. 30, to fly the expensive SES-10 commercial satellite on the first ever launch of a 'Flight-Proven' SpaceX booster.
Luxembourg-based SES and Hawthrone, CA-based SpaceX today jointly announced the agreement to "launch SES-10 on a flight-proven Falcon 9 orbital rocket booster" before the end of this year. "The satellite, which will be in a geostationary orbit and expand SES's capabilities across Latin America, is scheduled for launch in Q4 2016. SES-10 will be the first-ever satellite to launch on a SpaceX flight-proven rocket booster," according to a joint statement.
That first launch of a flight-proven Falcon 9 first stage will use the CRS-8 booster that delivered a SpaceX Dragon to the International Space Station in April 2016. The reflight could happen as soon as October 2016.
-- OriginalOwner_ adds The Register.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Snow on Wednesday August 31 2016, @08:32PM
They won't lose customers. At worst, they might have to fly a few of the reused rockets with no payload to prove that they are safe.
SpaceX has a pretty huge cost advantage and also has a pretty decent track record. One failure on an experimental rocket won't affect much. If their customers are scared to use a used rocket, then Spacex will happily make them a new one (I believe this is a requirement that NASA has set for it's SpaceX launches).
As an aside, I'm sure SES got a pretty great deal on that rocket.