SpaceX has now proven it can not only catch spent boosters as they return from space, but also fly them again. If boosters could be refurbished after each flight, the cost of space travel could be reduced by as much as a factor of 100. A Falcon 9 rocket costs millions to make, and only a few hundred thousand to fuel. Musk’s philosophy is, if rockets can be reusable, the cost of spaceflight can be dramatically reduced. However, everything changed when Elon Musk and SpaceX joined the game in 2002. As a result, getting to space is extremely expensive, with each rocket costing tens of millions of dollars. They are designed to carry a payload into orbit and are then discarded, never to be used again. Since the dawn of the space age, rockets have been expendable. ![]() He called it an “incredible milestone in the history of space”, adding: “This is going to be a huge revolution in spaceflight.” Musk said he was at a loss for words after the booster landed. ![]() The Falcon 9’s previous flight – the first successful landing on a ship This makes it more difficult to slow down enough to make a safe landing. Flying to orbit and then landing again is much harder because orbital rockets have a higher velocity upon return. One of his New Shepard rockets has soared five times from Texas, but the flights were suborbital. Blue Origin, an aerospace company started by Jeff Bezos, has already reflown a rocket. It was the first time SpaceX had attempted to fly a booster that had flown before on an orbital mission. Whoops and deafening cheers from the visitors around me greeted the words “Falcon has landed” piped over the speakers. Luckily for Musk and SpaceX, the rocket made the landing, dropping down dead-centre onto the bullseye. The seas were a bit choppy and the signal from the camera on board the ship, which we were following on our phones and laptops, went out just as the rocket was coming down. That meant technicians had less than normal to work with to land the rocket on its target – which was a drone ship. Putting the satellite into the planned geostationary transfer orbit would use most of the on-board fuel, although SpaceX didn’t disclose exactly what percentage. There was a loud cheer as the Falcon lifted off the launch pad, carrying a communications satellite into orbit.Ī tense 8 minutes followed as we waited to see if it would stick the landing. ![]() Finally, at 6.27 pm Eastern Standard Time on 30 March, the Falcon 9 roared to life, filling the evening sky with the thunderous rumble of rocket engines. A bald eagle perched nearby as we waited. The excitement grew as the minutes ticked away, inching us closer to launch time.
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