> But a fully reusable rocket could change the equation dramatically. Musk illustrated the point by citing SpaceX's Falcon 9, which costs between $50 million to $60 million per launch in its current configuration.
> "But the cost of the fuel and oxygen and so forth is only about $200,000," Musk said."So obviously, if we can reuse the rocket, say, a thousand times, then that would make the capital cost of the rocket for launch only about $50,000."
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 14.6 ms ] thread> "Testing of Grasshopper continues, with the next big milestone -- a hover at roughly 100 feet -- expected in the next several months."
This is preparation for the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) rocket SpaceX wants to build https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWFFiubtC3c
And the reason why they're doing this: http://www.space.com/13140-spacex-private-reusable-rocket-el...
> But a fully reusable rocket could change the equation dramatically. Musk illustrated the point by citing SpaceX's Falcon 9, which costs between $50 million to $60 million per launch in its current configuration.
> "But the cost of the fuel and oxygen and so forth is only about $200,000," Musk said."So obviously, if we can reuse the rocket, say, a thousand times, then that would make the capital cost of the rocket for launch only about $50,000."