“Nobody would suggest buying airplanes that only fly once & then crash into the ocean. That would be absurd…So why is this madness acceptable for…rockets?” — Elon Musk
Five years ago, Elon Musk made some startling predictions. Unveiling an upgraded version of the SpaceX Falcon 9 reusable rocket that can fly 10 times in a row without scheduled maintenance — and that might conceivably fly 100 times before requiring refurbishment — the CEO of SpaceX predicted that, one day soon, rocket rides to space would come to resemble airplane rides on Earth.
Just as with airplanes, the more often a rocket flies, the cheaper each additional flight becomes, as the cost of building the vehicle gets spread out and paid back over more and more uses. Ultimately, a rocket flight’s cost should begin to approach the cost of just the fuel to fly it.
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