After failing to land two of their rockets, the next SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral, meaning SpaceX isn’t giving up. It wouldn’t be too customary of Elon Musk to cede glory to anyone, especially after Blue Orbit successfully landed a reusable rocket last week.
This Will The First SpaceX Launch Since June
In their previous launch, where an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket set off for the International Space Station, the vessel broke apart in mid-flight. The company has been unable to successfully land a rocket on solid ground or at sea.
This launch, which could be scheduled as early as December 15, will act as a catch up by SpaceX to try and land their rockets successfully. Despite Blue Origin’s victory last week, their rockets are smaller and easier to land than Elon Musk’s more ambitions Falcon 9s and the giant Falcon Heavy rocket.
If the Landing is Successful, the Project Will Be Significantly Less Expensive
A second failed attempt to land on ground will cost SpaceX a lot of customer confidence, and if it succeeds, it’ll cut down the cost of space travel significantly. Currently, a single trip to space costs between $70 million and $80 million with a SpaceX vessel.
Will They Be Able to Catch Up to Blue Origin?
Until just last week, the company was at the top of the commercial space race, but with Blue Origin’s successful landing, it made a significant leap ahead. Now, Blue Origin can move onto the next stage while SpaceX lags behind, despite having the better equipment and the bigger ambition. It’s yet to be seen what’s next from Elon Musk’s space projects, but if their landing is successful this time around, they’ll once again be the top competitor to commercializing space flight.
