SpaceX, contracted through NASA 's Commercial Resupply Services, is planned to launch its fifth cargo shipment mission to the International Space Station in early January (delayed until 6th of January from the 19th of December, on the Friday the launch was supposed to be). SpaceX, with a heavy dose of innovation, is increasingly gaining business through NASA contracts. Friday's mission will simultaneously act as a testing session for a new, unique launch rocket. The company has been working on reusable launch vehicles - maybe not a completely new idea, but the SpaceX has actually been acting on it, with proper investment.
SpaceX's Falcon 9-R, which is third version of the Falcon rockets currently being developed and refined, is designed to be partially reusable. More specifically, the first-stage booster will be reusable after, for instance, cargo missions to the ISS. The Falcon 9-R, after delivery, would drop back down through the atmosphere and land aboard a landing pad on a recovery ship in the ocean - an undertaking that demands high precision. "While SpaceX has already demonstrated two successful soft water landings, executing a precision landing on an unanchored ocean platform is significantly more challenging," according to a SpaceX news release. If this important test of the reusable Falcon 9 rocket is successful (probability for success: 50%), a new standard for launch services will be set. If the recovery fails, critical data will be collected nonetheless, and the next test will potentially be more successful.
Reusability will offer several advantages, of which one is tremendous cost savings in the long-run. Thus, launch prices for NASA and private companies will experience declines. Parallel, demand for SpaceX's services will increase marginally with decreasing prices - Musk envisions launch price per pound to drop down to as low as $500 in the near future. Launch price for Falcon 9, with a capacity of some 13,150 kg into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), is $61.2 million - at full capacity some $4,654 per pound.
This innovation gives SpaceX a competitive advantage over competing private companies, such as Arianespace, a sizable European launch service provider. Besides lower prices, Elon Musk drives SpaceX to continually improve performance. According to the Motley Fool, "SpaceX's reusable rocket ship could cut the cost of satellite launches by 74% off what ULA charges the U.S. Government." ULA (United Launch Alliance), a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, could slowly lose market share if they do not start to come up with their own way to drive down prices of their launch offerings - the development of reusable launch vehicles should be a priority. Otherwise, ULA might not be able to effectively compete for much longer.
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| Past Liftoff of Falcon 9 Credit: SpaceX |
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| Innovative X-Wings on SpaceX's Falcon 9 - assistance to landing on platform Credit: SpaceX |
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| SpaceX Landing Platform Credit: SpaceX |
This innovation gives SpaceX a competitive advantage over competing private companies, such as Arianespace, a sizable European launch service provider. Besides lower prices, Elon Musk drives SpaceX to continually improve performance. According to the Motley Fool, "SpaceX's reusable rocket ship could cut the cost of satellite launches by 74% off what ULA charges the U.S. Government." ULA (United Launch Alliance), a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, could slowly lose market share if they do not start to come up with their own way to drive down prices of their launch offerings - the development of reusable launch vehicles should be a priority. Otherwise, ULA might not be able to effectively compete for much longer.
by Peter Steenhuis
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Sources:
http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/december/nasa-spacex-update-launch-of-resupply-mission-to-the-space-station/#.VIycNRyomFk
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/12/14/spacex-invents-an-x-wing-sort-of-introducing-falco.aspx
http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities
http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/12/16/x-marks-spot-falcon-9-attempts-ocean-platform-landing
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