Monday, November 24, 2014

Drone Ships and Autonomous Rockets


After the recent failure of the Antares Rocket, SpaceX has taken a few steps back to recuperate and count its loses. However, they have not taken their eyes off spaceflight, and this time its even more ambitious than before. SpaceX plans on sending autonomous rockets on refueling missions to the ISS. Now this may not sound so amazing on its own considering most resupply missions are automated, the crazy part comes with the re-entry and landing. In order to keep these missions safe, the rocket will be landing on a floating "Drone Ship", as mentioned by a representative. Not only that, SpaceX are planning on making their rockets reusable. With complete autonomous movements, these missions are going to bring great advancements to space exploration. According to SpaceNews, the initial mission will have a 50% success rate, while consecutive ones will be around 80% or 90%.

1 comment:

  1. The "reusable" aspect is certainly a big one, as discarding them is a huge waste of materials.

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