Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s other venture SpaceX is making strides toward a reusable rocket which can make its space deposit and then come back to earth. SpaceX posted a video clip of its Grasshopper rocket going 744 meters into the air. That’s the highest point in all of the private company’s test flights.
Tesla’s Musk aims to cut costs
The goal of the Grasshopper rocket is to reduce the costs associated with sending payloads up into space. In standard payload launches, the rocket is lost. If the Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO is successful in creating a rocket which can make a deposit in outer space and then come back and still be reusable, he could slash the costs of space travel by 10 to 100 times.
According to Musk, most rockets are designed to burn up when they reenter Earth’s atmosphere. However, the rockets being designed by SpaceX are designed not only to be able to reenter the atmosphere without serious damage but also return to their launch pad and land vertically. He said the Grasshopper is “a critical step” toward meeting his goal.
Grasshopper follows successful Falcon launch
Musk’s Grasshopper rocket uses parts from the Falcon 9 rocket as well as a Merlin engine. Two weeks ago SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket. At first there was some controversy about whether it exploded after reaching space, but Musk said it didn’t because the report came from SpaceTrack, which has reported inaccurate information in the past. He said early information from SpaceTrack is misleading because of how it tracks space debris.
SpaceX releases official reports about its launches, and it looks like it’s only a matter of time before the man who changed electric vehicles forever through Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) also changes space flight forever with his innovative rocket designs.
