Billionaire Elon Musk has grand ambitions. He seeks to transform the automobile market with his Tesla electric car. The Hyperloop high-speed transportation system will reinvent mass transit. And his SpaceX program aims to "save humanity" by reducing the risk of human extinction. SpaceX took a giant step forward last week when its Falcon Heavy booster propelled a privately funded payload out of Earth's orbit for the first time ever.
Falcon Heavy's success is a milestone in a new space race, one that is fundamentally different from that of the Cold War. The previous competition was contested by governments. Today it is driven by private entrepreneurs who mix grand visions with the profit motive. Governments are not disinterested observers, however. Outer space remains vital to various national interests and governments are deeply involved in the space race, as customers and participants.
For the first time in history, the most powerful rocket in the world is private property. The Falcon Heavy can put a 64 metric ton payload into low Earth orbit, twice the size of what is capable of being lifted by the world's second-most powerful rocket. Significantly, it does the job for one-third the cost. As a rule of thumb, it has cost about $10,000 to get 500 kg into space; Falcon Heavy does it for about $1,000, an order of magnitude difference. A big part of the reason is that the boosters are reusable: Falcon Heavy's three boosters return to Earth in controlled landings. In last week's launch, two made it back successfully, landing almost simultaneously near the launch pad. The third was aimed at a drone ship several hundred kilometers out to sea. It missed the target and was destroyed after hitting the water at high speed. The cost savings have recalibrated the economics of space travel, and experts believe further reductions are possible. This is the basis of Musk's dream of opening space to ordinary citizens.