On December 16 Space X’s Dragon capsule will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). While this is nothing new for SpaceX, the return trip could be one for the history books.

Normally when unmanned spacecraft return to Earth, they burn up in the atmosphere or splash down in the ocean. When the Falcon 9 returns to Earth, SpaceX will attempt to bring it in for a soft landing on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean.

According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s Twitter account the Falcon 9 will use thrusters repurposed from deep sea oil rigs, which hold their position to within 3 meters even in a storm. “Base is 300 ft by 100 ft, with wings that extend width to 170 ft. Will allow refuel & rocket flyback in future,” said Musk.

If spacecraft can be safely landed, refurbished and relaunched, the cost savings could dramatically improve the capabilities of NASA and other space programs. Currently, the cost of sending one pound of cargo into space is about $10,000. The current contract between NASA and SpaceX is for 12 resupply missions to the ISS at a cost of $1.6 billion. Musk believes that the cost with reusable rockets could be as little as $100 per pound.

“If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred. A fully reusable vehicle has never been done before. That really is the fundamental breakthrough needed to revolutionize access to space,” said Musk in a statement.

That dramatic cost reduction would allow for less expensive missions, which could translate into more missions and a faster turnaround time between launches. This would allow NASA to do more and would likely accelerate the development of private space companies.

SpaceX has made three previous trial runs at a soft landing. The first was unsuccessful, but the second and third attempts resulted in successful controlled descents. For those trial runs, however, there was no platform in place for the craft to land on.

The ability to land a rocket and take off again is also critical for future NASA manned missions, such as a trip to Mars and a planned human visit to an asteroid.