For decades, countries have tried to create and enhance different methods of space travel. Since the 20th century’s Space Race, the world accepted that the U.S. demonstrated remarkable space skills with astronaut Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon. Now, a certain U.S. aerospace company plans to prove its astronomical worth with inventions that will ease and advance space travel.
Founded in 2002, SpaceX aims to redefine and revolutionize space technology. The company also aims to bring human life to Mars, as the planet stands as one of Earth’s closest habitable neighbors. Although the organization’s founder, Elon Musk, stands as a problematic individual in the eyes of millions, the conservative company managed to lobby with $2,150,000 this year, likely due to the billionaire entrepreneur’s open association with the Republican party.
“I think SpaceX and Tesla are fantastic and have made remarkable advances and are on the verge of mass driverless taxis and personal robot assistants. Satellite internet, electric cars and reusable rockets are all the best in their class. It’s interesting to see how the views of Elon Musk have changed based on politics. He is a quirky but brilliant man, and I don’t think anyone can deny that. But in public opinion right now, he is either loved or hated, not for what his accomplishments are, but his change of party affiliation,” NC Astronomy teacher Chad Talley said.
Regardless of Musk’s political association, the company grew in over 20 years to provide apparent reliable and cheap space transportation. SpaceX has achieved numerous milestones in recent years and continues to show off its team’s impressive aerospace engineers. They sent their first orbital crewed mission in 2020 and averaged at least one rocket launch every two weeks. The company’s current main achievement, reusable rockets, catches the eyes of space enthusiasts who wonder what will happen next as an advancement in aerospace.
Known as “the first orbital class rocket capable of reflight,” the first Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched June 4, 2010, followed by another launch in December of that year. As of November 6, 2024, the company has launched 387 rockets, with 343 successful landings and 318 total reflights. Falcon 9 intends to carry payloads such as cargo and satellites into space on a steady and reliable journey. SpaceX chose to create Falcon 9 as a partially reusable rocket to not only reduce launch costs but also to reuse rocket parts in future space travel creations.
“SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is a reusable rocket that has saved tremendous amounts of time and money to the point of putting space flight back on the table. This made it possible to conduct more missions to place satellites in space such as Starlink, which is the internet brand for SpaceX. The main reason it is important is if we can make the rockets here on Earth, send them and place them on the moon to dock and eventually launch from the moon to send to Mars. Large rockets breaking through Earth’s atmosphere would have to refuel many times to make it to Mars, which is very unrealistic that we could do even if we wanted to,” Talley said.
Already having transformed the expectations on space travel for upcoming years, SpaceX delivers results with its cheaper costs and proven reliability when it comes to space technology. With Falcon 9 leading the company’s way to further success, SpaceX lays the groundwork for future ambitious missions to space.
