SpaceX's mission: To create technologies to reduce space transportation costs and enable the colonization of Mars
Move 4: The Future of Space Exploration
The Story of SpaceX | ColdFusion
SpaceX is the Future of the Aerospace Industry
I focused a vast majority of my research for this move on SpaceX, a private aerospace company founded in 2002 by billionaire business-magnate and engineer Elon Musk. The main reason why I looked at SpaceX rather than NASA lies behind SpaceX’s goal to revolutionize the aerospace industry not only in terms of technological advances and efficient, affordable rocket launches, but also in its method to inspire the next generation of space enthusiasts to attempt things never before done by mankind.
In Musk’s eyes, innovation in space exploration technology has remained stagnant for the last fifty years; he repeatedly asks himself how it is possible that we continue to spend billions of dollars to develop the exact same kind of technology as that of the 1960s to launch rockets into space. Musk’s dream was and still is to this day to revolutionize and create space exploration technology worthy of the 21st century.
Falcon 9 Rocket
Making Space Exploration Affordable
Reusable Rockets
Colonizing Mars
SpaceX’s manufacturing process for rockets is interesting and unique in that it does not rely on third-party suppliers for different parts, but instead the engineers design and produce every single one of the rockets’ components so as to reduce time and shipping costs. By making rockets from scratch, SpaceX ensures that every piece that goes on the rocket works as effectively as it can at the least cost possible.
Compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars needed for a company like Lockheed Martin to launch a rocket into space, SpaceX has found a way to do the same thing for $60 million, leaving all of its competitors with their mouths hanging wide open with disbelief.
Ultimately, the relatively cheap nature of SpaceX’s rocket launches has allowed the company to secure a deal with NASA to become one of its main cargo suppliers for the International Space Station, which has given SpaceX an edge over its competitors as they scramble to find ways to make their rockets cheaper.
“A jumbo jet costs about the same as one of our Falcon 9 rockets, but airlines don’t junk a plane after a one-way trip from LA to New York. Yet when it comes to space travel, rockets only fly once.” - Elon Musk
SpaceX has also become the first aerospace company ever to develop reusable rockets. In a regular rocket launch, most of the costs associated with actually building the rocket go into the fuel tank and the boosters that provide the necessary thrust for takeoff. Once the capsule breaks off and goes into space, the boosters are discarded and simply crash into the ocean’s corrosive salt water, leading to a long, arduous process of attempting to salvage some, if any, of these parts.
Elon Musk concluded that renewable rockets would represent the next logical step toward establishing a human colony in Mars. So far, despite several unsuccessful attempts, SpaceX was finally able to land Falcon 9 on an ocean platform in December of 2015. If SpaceX manages to truly master the creation of reusable rockets, it would revolutionize an industry often criticized by its tendency to excessively waste money and resources, and it would allow more launches to be carried out per year to generate more profits.
Since the company’s inception, employees at SpaceX have put their blood, sweat, and tears into developing technology that enables humans to become an interplanetary species capable of launching rockets into space at an ever increasing rate and settling colonies of Mars that could provide a plausible solution to overpopulation problems on Earth.
Musk's current plan consists of building many greenhouse domes that fit an initial colony of a million people who can find a job there and create a new life for themselves.
While Musk hopes that humans will find ways to mitigate the consequences of climate change, particularly by cutting down the use of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, he nonetheless believes that humanity is doomed unless we develop a backup plan, and what better backup plan at this point than Mars?