SpaceX set to launch cheaper, used rocket and capsule in Nasa mission
San Francisco — Elon Musk’s rocket company is about to take another step towards making space flight cheaper. On Wednesday, Space Exploration Technologies will double down on the concept of recycling spacecraft the company has flown and landed back on Earth. In a mission for Nasa, SpaceX will re-use both a rocket and a capsule it’s fired off before. Making space missions work more like commercial airline flights dramatically reduces costs — less money gets wasted discarding rockets and spacecraft after single launches. SpaceX’s success in this pursuit has made it one of the world’s most richly valued private companies. It’s also won over customers including Nasa, which US President Donald Trump has directed to return to the moon and explore Mars with the help of private industry. "At this point, the notion of re-use of hardware is almost unremarkable," said Ernie Chung, an aerospace, defence and airline consultant at AlixPartners. "What is remarkable is that SpaceX appears to be con...
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