SpaceX keeps pushing the boundaries of what their rockets are capable of, and that in turn means they have to keep expanding, though not always in ways one might expect.
Following a successful landing of a Falcon 9 first stage rocket on July 18th, they have announced that they’re seeking permission to build two more landing pads at Cape Canaveral. These additional pads would allow them to land up to three rockets at once, right in the same spot, which would make their Falcon Heavy system that much more sustainable.
Currently, they have drone barges they can use for landings at sea, but the Falcon Heavy uses three first stage rockets, all of which are designed to be reusable, and so they need to land within a pretty tight timeline. With three pads, they wouldn’t have to worry too much about spacing those landings out so that they have the room. And by putting all three down in one place, instead of three separate sites, they would be able to dramatically reduce the cost of recovering those rockets.
SpaceX is planning on launching their first recycled rocket later this year, which is another cost saving measure that will be required to keep launch costs down. The company’s plans for the future include flying manned missions for NASA and sending an unmanned mission to Mars in the next few years, and for those things to work, they’ll be launching rather often. And they have new contracts to support as well, so the more sustainable their rockets can be, the better.
And CEO Elon Musk is looking forward to the day when launches are routine, and aren’t headline worthy any more. That might be a little way down the road still, but his company is certainly making some pretty serious steps in that direction.