SpaceX is working on a reusable rocket

Chapter Tesla and Spacex Elon Muskto which we have devoted a very curiousan interview a few days ago shed light on some of the developments that SpaceX is currently working on. As it turned out, the company's engineers are puzzled by the construction of missiles that can be reused. As Musk has repeatedly pointed out, the “disposability” of rockets is a serious obstacle that prevents humanity from becoming a space civilization. The cost of a disposable rocket also impedes the development of space tourism.

Just imagine that whenever youIf you want to get or fly from one point to another, you would have to buy a new transport, and take the old one for scrap (although you can’t even give it up for scrap). Likewise, many enterprises that may well be engaged in the study of space on a commercial basis do not see the profitability in the construction of disposable rockets and the development of systems for the development of other planets and asteroids, when a new rocket will have to be built for the return trip.

Musk notes that fuel and oxygen are practicallycost nothing in space travel. The cost of these two necessary elements is only 0.9% of the total cost of the rocket. If SpaceX manages to create a reusable rocket, "the cost of a space flight will fall at least a hundred times." Musk says that SpaceX’s main goal is to take humanity beyond Earth and make humans a "multi-planetary view." People do not use disposable vehicles, why not make rockets more tenacious?

Recall that the head of SpaceX Corporation is planningcreate colonies on Mars, which will add 80,000 people a year. The idea of ​​creating a space agency came to him when he tried to transfer money to NASA to create "greenhouses" on Mars for the development of life. Musk hoped his project could increase NASA's federal budget. A talented entrepreneur wanted to grow “green plants on a red background” that could become a real gold streak. The project failed, but SpaceX was born from its ashes.

The company is now very successful since a quarterNASA serves its space launches, and the remaining three quarters go to the development of the commercial space exploration industry. Musk expressly states that today NASA is the largest customer of the company. Now the company is also working on creating its own commercial spaceport in Texas (the third for the company). To complete the work left to settle some legal nuances.

Not so long ago, NASA signed a contract with SpaceX to use Dragon spacecraft to communicate with the ISS astronauts.

Source: slashgear.com