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SpaceX may reuse 100 percent of major rocket components by 2018

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has stated that he was aiming to be able to reuse every part of the rocket by late next year.

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Following SpaceX’s first successful re-use of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that he would now aim to reuse all parts of the rocket by late 2018.

According to Fortune, the sticker price of a Falcon 9 launch is $61.2 million, which analysts have estimated would come down about 20 percent with re-use of only the first stage, while increasing SpaceX’s profit margin per launch by around 50 percent. The report also added that the ultimate aims to achieve a 24-hour turnaround on reusable rockets, which will ultimately create an “interplanetary railroad that would take humans to Mars and beyond.”

On March 30, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket recovered at sea from its maiden flight last year blasted off again from Florida in the first successful launch of a recycled orbital-class booster, then capped the feat with another return landing on an ocean platform. The twin achievements of re-launching a used rocket and salvaging the vehicle yet again were hailed by billionaire SpaceX founder as a revolutionary step in his quest to slash launch costs and shorten intervals between space shots. "This is a huge day," Musk told reporters after the launch. "My mind's blown."

The Falcon 9 booster, which previously flew in April 2016, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 6:27 p.m. EDT (2227 GMT) to put a communications satellite into orbit for Luxembourg-based SES SA. The booster's main section then separated from the rest of the rocket and flew itself back to a landing pad in the Atlantic, where it successfully touched down for its second at-sea return. The company spent at least $1 billion to develop the technology to land and re-fly its rockets and aims to recoup its investment in the next year or so, Musk said.

SpaceX also is working on a passenger spaceship, with two unidentified tourists signed up for a future trip around the moon. The company's long-term goal under Musk is to establish a colony on Mars and ferry people and cargo back and forth between the planets.

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