SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Lands Successfully

Landing of a rocket is no more considered a very significant deal; however, in reality it is quite a tough task. This explains the reason for SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s excitement following the successful landing of its Falcon 9. The rocket landed close to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral on December 21 2015. The 14-story booster returned intact after successfully launching 11 commercial satellites to orbit.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin was also thrilled after its rocket landed in November 2015. Musk states that he now expects several booster rockets to return intact at a rapid rate. Safe landing of the rocket is considered an important achievement owing to the cost incurred in making a rocket. SpaceX reported NBC News that it spent about $60 million to manufacture the Falcon 9 booster rocket. Furthermore, the cost of fuel incurred in launching the rocket one time is approximately $200,000.

Majority of rockets are manufactured in a manner that they burn up after re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. This translates into an additional cost of $60 million to make a new rocket for each launch. It does not appear to be a very cost-efficient process. "If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred”, said Musk. He added that this is the first time a completely reusable rocket has been used for a mission. This is being considered as a revolutionizing advancement in the field of space.