Do SpaceX’s Reusable Rockets Actually Make Space Travel Cheaper?
Elon Musk has established himself as a game changer for space travel, but has he actually succeeded in making it affordable? Where Does Space Actually Start ...
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If you had to buy a new car every time you had to go somewhere, you'd be broke by Tuesday. So, why not apply the same logic to space travel. 90s kids will remember the space shuttle launches that ferried astronauts and cargo to the ISS. But even the reusable shuttle was expensive, and so the program ended in 2011. According to the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, the shuttle was too complex, and money could be saved if the rocket was simplified. Simplifying a rocket. How hard could that be? Well, after few crash landings and explosions, SpaceX seems to have the self-landing reusable rocket thing figured out. So, does this make space travel cheaper? Space shuttle missions cost about 450 million dollars per launch, and while that sounds like a lot more than SpaceX’s price of $133 milli...
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If you had to buy a new car every time you had to go somewhere, you'd be broke by Tuesday. So, why not apply the same logic to space travel. 90s kids will remember the space shuttle launches that ferried astronauts and cargo to the ISS. But even the reusable shuttle was expensive, and so the program ended in 2011. According to the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, the shuttle was too complex, and money could be saved if the rocket was simplified. Simplifying a rocket. How hard could that be? Well, after few crash landings and explosions, SpaceX seems to have the self-landing reusable rocket thing figured out. So, does this make space travel cheaper? Space shuttle missions cost about 450 million dollars per launch, and while that sounds like a lot more than SpaceX’s price of $133 milli...
