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fubarobfusco comments on Stupid Questions May 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion
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It's a step toward landing it back at the launch site for rapid reuse.
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_reusable_launch_system_development_program
1) Why is it important that the rocket that just landed take off again so soon? I've always had the impression that space missions aren't too frequent.
2) Does transporting the rocket from the ocean back to the launch site cost a lot of money? Is avoiding this a big benefit of the reusable launch system?
While that's worded in customer benefit, I think the actual reason is supply-side: hovering is costly, and so landing the stages as cheaply as possible implies doing it quickly.
This may be because they are so expensive; if reusable rockets decrease the launch costs significantly enough, there may be many more launches.
I don't think there will be, because sattelites themselves usually are much more expensive than their launch.