Story highlights SpaceX is scheduled to launch a rocket Tuesday

In a first, the company will try to land the rocket's first stage

There is at best a 50% chance this attempt will succeed, SpaceX says

(CNN) The private spaceflight company SpaceX will launch another mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday, but the real highlight of the event could be back on Earth.

A Falcon 9 rocket will lift the cargo into orbit, and for the first time, the company will try to land the rocket's first stage on a floating platform.

Traditionally, rockets have been designed to fall back to Earth after separating from the spacecraft they lifted, and then burn up on reentry or crash into the ocean. The millions of dollars that go into the production of the rockets burn, too.

SpaceX wants to pioneer a reusable rocket, a development that could change the economics of space travel.

"A fully and rapidly reusable rocket -- which has never been done before -- is the pivotal breakthrough needed to substantially reduce the cost of space access," SpaceX said in a news release.

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