[Vince Ferrer]

This is a big deal. If SpaceX can get even a reusable first stage going, they will have the cheapest access to space. Neither Russia, China, India, or the ESA will be this cheap. They can own the market for anything the Dragon2 can launch.

[Jonty30]

This is exciting.

It also opens up private ventures in asteroid mining. If AM could be commercialized, that would honestly eliminate resource shortages in all areas.

[Vince Ferrer]

SpaceX Grasshopper

[driftdiver]

How about a flight where the engines work correctly or they at least reach the planned orbit on schedule before they start touting to be the best.

[JRandomFreeper]

And they are doing fly-then-fix as they gather data from the crashes. Musk expects to lose 1st stages.

No better way to figure out what doesn't work than to break things.

Beats heck out of the US military procurement fix-then-fly with everchanging specs that cost trillions.

/johnny

[Bryan24]

How much payload will Musk sacrifice in order to land his rocket? Gravity isn’t cheap. It will take a good bit of fuel to land that first stage. That fuel will come at the expense of payload.

BTW, NASA has been building and launching rockets for 50 years. What they have learned, they turn over to private industry. You know, people like Elon Musk and SpaceX.

Musk rubbed a LOT of people the wrong way by not giving credit to the people who figured out all of this space flight stuff.

All he is doing is refining what was discovered 40-50 years ago.

[PA Engineer]

This is a big deal.

Wow. This is the definition of Big Deal. Thanks for the post. BTTT.

[Freeport]

"During the initial test, the first stage will continue on a ballistic arc and execute a velocity reduction burn to cushion its re-entry into the atmosphere, the SpaceX chief said. Just before splashdown, the rocket will light up its engines again."

Ouch... Not good for the hot section parts. Since the bell nozzles are ablative, they would be replaced anyway, but when the hot combustors hit that salt water... Ouch...