Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon rocket is partially reusable. The article also describes the biggest barrier to space:

Musk's company had to fill out 60 documents for range-safety certification. Some of those documents were as large as two Los Angeles phone books. He recommended revising the procedure.

Good recommendation...

...to which I'll bet the response was something on the order of a dismissive, "Oh, everybody says that."

Actually, I'll bet that Boeing and Lockmart don't say it. They like it, because it's already factored into their overhead costs, and it's a barrier to entry of competition.

I'd like to see the "Paperwork Reduction Act" blurb on that form. "Expected time required for completion: Don't Ask!"

The problem is not the size of the form. The problem is that somebody thought that something as complicated as range safety could be standardized into a form at all.

If you don't have a form, and something goes wrong, then the Mary Shaviros of the world (that insufferable airline "watchdog") will bitch and moan about how there's no oversight.

Forms are useful asshields. The bigger the better, if asshielding -- and not progress -- is your primary concern.

It's the damned lawyers (me being one) that are behind this crap.