Reuse has been a goal since the at least 70s, with the Shuttle project, Buran, later the DC-X, etc. It wasn't one guy maverick enough to attempt it. And it wa

Reuse has been a goal since the at least 70s, with the Shuttle project, Buran, later the DC-X, etc. It wasn't one guy maverick enough to attempt it. And it wasn't given up on and then revived by one guy. Blue Origin, Armadillo, Scaled Composites, etc. were all attempting it. It is the largest scale (comparing heavy vs shuttle, though heavy hasn't seen much use) and seemingly most successful, and several other firsts. The upper stage still is discarded, but if they can pull off the Starshuttle it will be huge and the first operating at anywhere near that scale with full reuse.