SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Reveals His Robust Reusability Goals for Falcon Rocket Boosters
(Photo : SpaceX.com)

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that his company has ambitious reusability plans for his company's Falcon Rocket Boosters.

During Barcelona's 2021 Mobile World Congress, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reveals that he and his team have already set the company's long-term goal - an ambitious and robust reusability plan for Falcon Rocket Boosters.

The Struggles of Falcon Rocket Boosters

According to Teslarati, booster B1051 successfully sent a total of 60 satellites together with an upper stage to orbit two months before the announcement.

It also became the first Falcon 9 to succeed in ten orbital-class launches and landings. It crossed a symbolic and significant for SpaceX's milestone in the coming years.

Teslarati reported that the United Launch Alliance held the ten-flight mark above its head because it is the latest, together with mobile goalposts used to demean and discredit reusable rockets and SpaceX's efforts.

Will Falcon Rocket Boosters Reusability Goals Work?

Instead of giving reasons why SpaceX's reusability goals would not work, the latest attitude du jour aims to claim that the company's plan to reuse Falcon Rocket Boosters was never in doubt. Teslarati also reported that the economics of booster reuse does not make any economic sense.

But five years after Falcon 9's initial successful booster landing, four years after the company's first successful reuse of booster, and seven weeks after Falcon 9's first ten-flight accomplishment, Elon Musk believes that it is time to push through with the plan.

Read Also: SpaceX Successfully Completes Starship's Super Heavy Booster Prototype, Finally Installing it at the Launch Pad.

According to Teslarati, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that several boosters are currently slated to fly 20 to 30 times.

Musk is known as a CEO who does not rest, and he also does not let his companies rest. As a result, SpaceX already has its new target: to work hard to ramp up and sustain Falcon 9's booming launch cadence with record-breaking statistics.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Falcon Rocket Booster's Reusability Goals

Technically speaking, if SpaceX decides to develop a reusable upper stage, the company's Falcon 9 today could cost 10% of its list price at $6 million. Considering the cost of a brand new expendable upper stage used for each mission, its actual cost will be close to $18 million.

But in June, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Falcon 9's operational cost only covers 10% of the launch's cost. It effectively confirms that Falcon 9's Block 5 upgrade made a rocket booster that requires no refurbishments - at least, virtually.

It might be possible for SpaceX to find that Flacon 9 Block 5 boosters can fly 20 to 30 times without any significant rework.

However, all we could do is wait because only time can tell whether SpaceX's plan will push through.

On the other hand, Falcon 9 B1051's 11th flight will happen from the West Coast. Teslarati stated that it might occur between July and August 2021.

Related Article: Deep Space Atomic Clock for GPS Improvement - Results to Heightened Spacecraft Autonomy?

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Written by Fran Sanders

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