In Brief SpaceX made history by successfully relaunching and re-landing a used Falcon 9 rocket booster for the first time today. SpaceX's orbital rocket system is already the most affordable in the world, but reusability could save companies more than $18 million per launch. <\/p>\n
SpaceX has long said it would like to make its entire Falcon 9 rocket reusable.Today, Elon Musks company madehistory by successfully relaunching and re-landing a used Falcon 9 rocket booster for the first time.The SES-10 mission marks a historic milestone on the road to full and rapid reusability as the worlds first re-flight of an orbital class rocket. Falcon 9s first stage for the SES-10 mission previously supported the successful CRS-8 mission in April 2016. <\/p>\n
In an interview after the launch, Musk called it a huge revolution in spaceflight. <\/p>\n
The recycled rocket carrieda satellite into orbit for SES, a Luxembourg-basedtelecommunications company, which will provide internet and television service for Central and South America. <\/p>\n
In order for commercial space travel to be viable, companies like SpaceX have to make it more affordable. Currently, the Falcon 9 costs about$62 million. However, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceXs COO, says reusing a rocket booster could result in a30 percent discountper launch, saving companies more than $18 million. <\/p>\n
This is an amazing day for space as a whole, said Musk post-landing, for the space industry it means you can fly and re-fly an orbital class booster, the most expensive part of the rocket. <\/p>\n
This is potentially revolutionary, John Logsdon, a space policy expert and historian at George Washington Universitys Space Policy Institute, told Business Insider. Reusability has been the Holy Grail in access to space for a long, long time. <\/p>\n
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See the original post: In Brief SpaceX made history by successfully relaunching and re-landing a used Falcon 9 rocket booster for the first time today. SpaceX's orbital rocket system is already the most affordable in the world, but reusability could save companies more than $18 million per launch. Continue reading
\nSpaceX's Historic Launch Proves Recycled Rockets Are the Future of Space Exploration - Futurism<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"