After demonstrating the successful reuse of one of its Falcon 9 rockets, Elon Musk is not resting on his laurels, took to Twitter to announce Space X's next goal: a turnaround time of 24 hours to reuse its rockets after landing.
SpaceX started a spaceflight revolution by being the first space faring private company to launch recycled rockets on a mission into space. The company's success will significantly lower the cost of future space launches as much as 30-percent, which could run up to millions in savings.
However, though still fresh from celebrating the successful launch and landing of its Falcon 9 rocket, he revealed in a Tweet, that SpaceX would have a 24-hour turnaround time. He wants SpaceX to make space travel similar to air travel, wherein the rockets can be re-launched on the same day, Futurism reported.
Musk envisions repeat flights for a booster and rocket turnarounds for as little as 24 hours, wherein launched rockets will land, refueled and sent back up again, leading to one day sending humans out there among the stars. Chief technology officer Martin Halliwell said customers gets discounts for agreeing to use a salvaged rocket, but would not say by how much, it is not just about the savings, he said.
Instead of calling it re-used or recycled rocket, the billionaire visionary prefers to call them "flight proven," according to the Daily Mail. Boosters are the most expensive component of a rocket; these are typically discarded after a liftoff. Re-using the rockets would save the company millions by cutting costs and waste.
Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stated that Blue Origin would begin crewed test flights for its New Shepard flagship and begin flying paid passengers as early as 2018. Musk, on the other hand, has a loftier goal of sending humans to Mars by 2025.
