SpaceX Mission: Land 3 Rockets And Recycle

First Posted: Jul 20, 2016 08:39 AM EDT
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For the second time, SpaceX has successfully landed a rocket coming home from its mission in the International Space Station to be re-used again. After five post-launch recoveries, this success is enough for the company to be confident in a new frontier: landing three rockets at once.

The challenge of landing one rocket is no longer a challenge for Elon Musk's company, which is why they are looking to do it for three. They are now in the process of asking the federal government for two more landing pads to be able to land all three rockets just within minutes of each other.

The rocket they will be using for this endeavor will be the Falcon Heavy, which will have three first-stage boosters. Successfully landing the Falcon Heavy will be a major milestone for both the company and the space exploration industry as a whole.

Why three rockets? Because it not only makes for good publicity, but it also maximizes recycling that is important for making every rocket launch cost less. The end goal is for the company to develop reusable rockets in the quickest possible time, which will reduce the cost of space flight by a factor of 100.

To be able to streamline the company's inspection and re-launch procedures, it plans to build more launch sites so that the landing can be done near the launch sites. The only problem is that the boosters don't have the capacity to hold enough fuel for safely landing back to the launch pads, which is why the company is also trying to perfect their ocean landings-a more cost-effective way of landing rockets.

Musk is very excited about the prospect of completing the landing of the three rockets.

"Can't wait to see all three cores of Falcon Heavy come back for landings! First two will be almost simultaneous," Musk posted on his Twitter page.

See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone

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