Space is a fascinating realm.
Incidentally any milestone in space exploration catches the imagination of
young and old alike. On Feb 6th Space X, launched the World’s
powerful rocket carrying a pay load, the original cherry red Tesla Roadster
electric car playing the Space Oddity destined for the red planet Mars. Unlike
conventional rocket launches that carry satellites slated for different orbits
or interplanetary space travel, the rocket hoisted a car driven by a mannequin
Star Man making it more special. To brandish rocket’s incredible load carrying
capacity, Space X wanted a huge payload and what best could have served its
business interests other than choosing its own product. They zeroed in on
roadster, the revolutionary electric car of Musk to promote its brand and
technological proficiencies.
Falcon Heavy lifted off from the
NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre Cape Canaveral, the place from where powerful Saturn
V rockets for Lunar Mission 1969 took off. Clearly, the third stage of Falcon
blast off over performed steering the Roadster beyond the heliocentric orbit of
the Mars into the asteroid orbit. Roadster having missed its original
destination, will now orbit between Mars and Jupiter for eternity and might
eventually turn into space debris. But this iconic launch Space X Falcon Heavy
has created a history. Till 1991, Cold war rivals US and Soviet Union intensely
competed to show case their dominance in every avenue and space was no
exception. Their fierce competition yielded numerous scientific breakthroughs
that drastically changed the contours of space exploration which has been
exclusive domain of the governments. Now Space X’s spectacular launch potentially
opened the territory of space for private companies.
The launch was phenomenal in terms
of technological advancement. Two of three boosters of the rockets descended
majestically to the designated launch area vertically are recovered and
refurbished for use in next launch. Recovery of the first stage boosters is a
tremendous achievement and speaks volumes of Elon Musk’s vision of reusable
rockets which can tremendously reduce economies of scale. Reusability of the
boosters used in the Falcon Heavy that can carry a payload of 63,800kg to Low
Earth Orbits (LEO) is believed to reduce cost of launching satellites by over a
quarter. Aside cost reduction, Space X has now set the bar high for its
competitors.
Space X’s incredible feat is now
renaissance of sorts for space science and exploration. Having already proven
its capabilities in delivering cargoes to the International Space Station and
successfully carried out 45 missions and planned 70 missions worth $10 billion.
Space X Falcon 9 reusable rockets have
been making significant progress in satellite launching business by reducing
the cost by 30% or $18.6 million with every launch. Enamored by its achievements,
Space X is now working on Dragon Capsule, Falcon Heavy rocket and the BFR
rocket system for its ambitious project of carrying humans on inter planetary
destinations. Musk has special interest in red planet and Space X is geared up
to send humans to Mars by 2019. Overwhelmed by the recent Falcon Heavy near
flawless launch, Musk threw a gauntlet, challenging other rivals for a space
race. He encouraged companies indicating that Space X, as a commercial entity managed
with internal funds of $500 million and prompted billionaires to invest in
Space Science.
Though the entry of private players
into the arena of space science has been decades long, federal laws prevented
them from launching their own satellites till 1984. In 2010, President Obama’s
decision of ending the space shuttle program changed the situation opening the
territory of Space for private players. Ever since, private companies
relentless vied to fill the void imparting a commercial angle to space
exploration. Among the prominent early entrants into space science include Jeff
Bezos, founder of Amazon who launched Blue Origin and billionaire Richard Branson’s
Virgin Galactic. In 2015, Blue Origin successfully launched the first reusable
rocket. Main stay of these two companies has been space tourism. While Musk was
keen on exploring the possibility of putting up human settlements in other
planets and space mining. As of now,
Space X has emerged as the leader proving its abilities by placing heavy
satellites in low earth orbits at low costs.
Entry of private players has now
significantly changed the dimension of space science. Reusable rockets reduced
cost of satellite launches and the dream of low cost space travel no longer
seems unrealistic. Steadily, an ecosystem replete of private players equipped
with new technologies, started blooming across different corners of the World.
These include a new genre of smaller satellite launch companies and satellite
manufacturers planning to work in tandem with big players. Rocket is akin to
hardware, while satellites are the software programs. Private players are slowly
replacing the huge geosynchronous communication satellite which are hoisted by
powerful rockets with smaller satellites placed in Low Earth Orbits (LEO) to
get decent image resolution bringing down the costs to a fraction. Prominent
players revolutionizing information technology with small satellites are a
Finnish Company ICEYE and New Zealand based Rocket Lab which has it own launch
pad on North Island’s Mahia Peninsula. As against the average satellite launch
cost of $220 million, Rocket Lab intends to send small satellites for as less
as $5million and as frequently as once in a week. They are even employing 3-D
printing for building rocket engines.
Parallelly, billionaires across the
World are now getting enthused by the prospect of exploring the infinite realm
of mysteries, the Space and to use space for the benefit of earth. The list of
enthusiastic new entrants includes- Robert Bigleow who intends to send an
inflatable hotel to orbit the Moon, Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Starshot
initiative to probe the Alpha Centauri (closet star to our Solar System), Larry
Page and Eric Schimdt’s asteroid mining mission and Ashurbeyli’s Space Nation
project. Ashurbeyli aspires to build first space nation, Asgardia and any
individual over 18 years from any part of the World can apply for citizenship.
He intends to send arks of pensioners into space and eventually colonize the
moon. Investments are now pouring into space sector into the global space
economy worth $329 billion with three-fourths coming from private players.
Clearly, Space X’s tremendous success has bolstered the spirits of iconic
dreamers and inveterate space enthusiasts.
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