Landing 300 rockets means SpaceX has preserved 2,700 Merlin rocket engines. In round numbers, the dry mass of a Falcon 9 first stage is about 50 metric tons, so the landing of all these rockets has prevented 15,000 metric tons of metal and other materials from being dumped into the oceans—the equivalent, in mass, of about 100 residential homes.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
On Tuesday evening, SpaceX launched its 42nd rocket of the year, carrying yet another passel of Starlink satellites into orbit.
This happened with the ORBCOMM-2 mission on December 22, 2015, when the first-stage booster returned to a pad near the launch site.
In round numbers, the dry mass of a Falcon 9 first stage is about 50 metric tons, so the landing of all these rockets has prevented 15,000 metric tons of metal and other materials from being dumped into the oceans—the equivalent, in mass, of about 100 residential homes.
Although the Russian space program repeatedly talks about replacing the Soyuz with a newer line of rockets, such boosters remain firmly on the drawing board.
At some point in the next year or two, SpaceX’s significantly larger Starship rocket will begin launching Starlink satellites.
That will remove some of the demand from the Falcon 9, although the smaller booster is likely to continue flying for the foreseeable future, likely through the 2030s at least.
The original article contains 607 words, the summary contains 164 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
It’s amazing how routine the landings have become. With Starlink launches switching to Starship in the next couple years, and each Falcon 9 booster doing 20 flights (and likely more), I wonder how many more boosters will even need to be produced. They could probably do a few hundred more launches just with their current stock of boosters.
And allowed one man to become richer than almost everyone else alive
A display of disgusting extravagance built on the backs of the brilliant workers who achieved it.
Are all rocket missions a “disgusting extravagance” or just the SpaceX ones?
The dozens of launches to the ISS? The Intuitive Machines moon lander from couple of months ago? All those TV satellites servicing various parts of the world? The hundreds of communications satellites?
This has to be willful misunderstanding.
I don’t mean SpaceX, I mean Elon Musk and his billions made by the workers at SpaceX, to which be contributed nothing of value.
I don’t mean SpaceX, I mean Elon Musk
Neither your comment, nor the article you are commenting about, mentions Elon Musk once! What am I supposed to think?
And if it’s him you’re talking about, then what does your term “disgusting extravagance” apply to? All those super yachts and private islands he owns and spends so much time on? /s
After seeing that so many people agreed with you maybe I could have said things more explicitly.
If I have but one note, if you’re not sure what someone means don’t try to extrapolate and just ask.
There were enough context clues and I stand by it. You’re clearly looking for a fight where there isn’t one. Good day to you.
Yeah talk about a strawman
Am I supposed to be a mind reader?
