/sci/ - Science & Math

>Liquid Fly-back Booster (LFBB) was a German Aerospace Center's (DLR's) project concept to develop a liquid rocket booster capable of reusing for Ariane 5 in order to significantly reduce the high cost of space transportation and increase environmental friendliness.
>LFBB would replace the existing solid rocket boosters, providing main thrust during the liftoff. Once separated, two winged boosters would perform an atmospheric entry, fly back autonomously to the French Guiana, and land horizontally on the airport like an aeroplane.
>German Aerospace Center studied Liquid Fly-back Boosters as a part of future launcher research programme from 1999 to 2004

So the ESA could have had reusable boosters at least a decade before SpaceX