SpaceX made history when it sent the Falcon 9 to orbit, where the rocket successfully made it back to Earth on Monday last night. This is the first time that a spacecraft with valuable shipment was able to accomplish such a feat.
Previously, the company has already tried to do this three times, carrying out the tests over the ocean and almost landing the rockets on a floating platform. Now, the first attempt to land it upright on soil was done perfectly in Florida.
11 satellites deployed to target orbit and Falcon has landed back at Cape Canaveral. Headed to LZ-1. Welcome back, baby!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2015
There and back again pic.twitter.com/Ll7wg2hL1G — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2015
Before that, however, an earlier version of the Falcon 9 exploded back in June. The craft at the time was loaded with about 4,000 pounds worth of cargo, and it was meant to resupply the International Space Station, with whom the company has a $16 billion contract to send supplies.
The present model had improvements applied across the board, which stands slightly higher than its predecessors at 229.6 feet, where the updated rocket has brought a colossal victory for SpaceX.
According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the innovation of reusable rockets could potentially reduce the total launch costs, bringing about a huge possibility for commercial space travel.
"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. A fully reusable vehicle has never been done before. That really is the fundamental breakthrough needed to revolutionize access to space," Musk says.
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, who successfully launched and landed the New Shepard rocket back on Earth earlier in November, shares the same vision and sentiment as Musk. The two billionaires have declared that reusable launch systems are going to play a critical role in the attempts to extend humanity's reaches beyond Earth.
"The reason that space travel is so expensive is because we throw this expensive, aerospace-grade rocketry away after each and every use, and so the Holy Grail of rocketry to make it less expensive is full reusability. So that's really the key to getting millions of people living and working in space, exploring the solar system, going to Mars, going to everywhere else. We need to dramatically lower that cost," Bezos said during a press event back in November.
However, it would be unfair to say that Blue Origin has the edge over SpaceX for achieving a similar feat first, as the former's goal is to simply get a rocket out into space and return for tourism purposes, whereas the latter's intent is to create a vessel that can carry things out into orbit, which demands more difficult technical aspects and requires much higher speeds.
"It's pushing the boundaries, which we were previously told could not happen. I think what these two companies are doing is showing that it is possible, that it will reduce the cost," Eric Stallmer, Commercial Spaceflight Federation president, tells Space.com.
With these recent developments, human life on Mars could be in the near future. By significantly cutting down costs of space travel, opportunities for multi-planet undertakings will be easier to execute, which could open the doors for colonization on Mars.
"I think this is a critical step along the way towards being able to establish a city on Mars. That's what all this is about," Musk told reporters on Monday night.
For sure, the accomplishment of SpaceX makes a lasting mark in space aviation, unfolding new chapters and frontiers for the future of humanity and allowing us to attain unimaginable heights, even beyond Mars.
You can watch the full launch webcast below.
