Private aerospace company SpaceX plans to develop reusable spacecraft that gently land on Earth or other planets using retrorockets, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
The idea is for both the space capsule and its rocket booster to be capable of "propulsive landing," where after their reentry into the atmosphere using heat shields, the spacecraft would be lowered gently to a planet's surface using rocket thrusters.
For Musk's 100% reusable spacecraft idea to become reality, there's much rigorous testing to be done. So far, SpaceX has done design work to figure out if it's possible.
According to Discovery, Musk said the following at the National Press Club in New York Thursday: "Now, we could fail — I'm not saying we are certain of success here — but we are going to try to do it. And we have a design that on paper — doing the calculations, doing the simulations — it does work."
Is this really practical? It seems like such propulsive landings on Earth would require inordinate amounts of fuel compared to the traditional fiery reentry with a parachute finish. But the Russians have been using a hybrid re-entry approach for years, using parachutes to slow down a spacecraft, and then a rocket burst just before landing to ensure the spacecraft is lowered gently to Earth.
A developmental advantage SpaceX might have is the fact that it's already developing a launch escape system, which is already in the early stages of testing. And as Musk says, that system's "escape thrusters are bolted in the side of the spacecraft, so we can also use it for propulsive landings." He adds that such a system could also come in handy for a voyage and soft landing on Mars.
The first version of that Dragon spacecraft is almost ready, and it's designed to take astronauts from Earth to the space station and back, and has yet to be equipped with such retrorockets. Tell us in the comments, readers, do you think SpaceX should stick with the traditional re-entry methods to save money, or try to develop this precision-powered landing approach?