Launch industry watching SpaceX's rocket-landing plans

SpaceX plans to try again Sunday night to land its used rocket on an unmanned barge in the Atlantic Ocean after launching it into space, an experiment seen as a big step toward making space launches dramatically less expensive.

The company is scheduled to launch its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:10 p.m., to carry a space-weather monitoring satellite into space.

The satellite, called the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) will help NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Air Force better monitor events such as geomagnetic storms caused by changes in the Sun's wind.

Minutes after the rocket's launch, SpaceX will attempt to land its next big dream, with ramifications for the space industry worldwide. At stake is SpaceX's plan to make its rockets reusable, which would revolutionize launches and reduce costs.

"I don't think it's too strong to say it really is a game-changing event," said Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. "I think it's going to have a huge impact on the industry from a cost perspective."

If SpaceX succeeds, Stallmer and others in the industry think a price-driven space competition could spur a new boom in private and government satellite launches. Worldwide, virtually all rockets are used only once, and the rockets themselves are by far the largest factor in launch costs.

SpaceX has been coy about what it expects to save. But industry observers note that the company now charges $61 million for most launches, which already is the industry's lowest rate, and say the company might be able to get that bill to less than $10 million.

Others, however, suggest the actual savings of recycling rockets might not be great because the rockets could need significant overhauls before reuse.

"I've heard a wild range of numbers [for savings] from nothing to an order of magnitude of 10," Stallmer said.

Roger Handberg, a University of Central Florida political science professor who specializes in space policy, noted that NASA and the United Launch Alliance were able to retrieve and reuse portions of the space shuttles' solid rocket boosters, but found little if any savings in doing so. Those boosters, however, landed in the water and were retrieved and towed back to land.

See original here:
Launch industry watching SpaceX's rocket-landing plans