GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Reusable Rockets and the Dawn of the Next Space Age

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Rod D. Martin
Board of Contributors

Feb 20, 2018 | 08:00 GMT

The Falcon Heavy, a fully reusable rocket from SpaceX, takes off from a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 6, 2018.

The Falcon Heavy, a fully reusable rocket from SpaceX, takes off from a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 6, 2018.

(JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • Though established aerospace firms such as Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. have the advantage of more experience and more money on their side, upstart companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin will continue to outpace them in innovation.
  • The firms' reusable rockets will drastically reduce the cost of space travel, making it more feasible and accessible.
  • Reusable rockets have the potential to transform life on Earth by facilitating terrestrial travel and opening up the vast wealth of resources lying just beyond the planet.

When Tesla founder Elon Musk and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos began testing reusable rockets, few understood the significance of what they were trying to achieve. Now that Musk's company SpaceX is routinely re-launching used Falcon 9 boosters -- not to mention the Falcon Heavy, which launched Feb. 6 with three times the payload of the space shuttle -- the feat seems practically mundane. It's the new normal. But these launches are nothing short of extraordinary. The rise of reusable rockets is a revolution on par with the invention of the sail or the steam engine: It will change everything....

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