The Case for Space

In early 2018, Elon Musk’s rocket – the SpaceX Falcon Heavy – launched into orbit. Over half the rocket is reusable – a transformative innovation that launched a market-driven space race. SpaceX completed the Falcon in record time at relatively low cost. Aerospace engineer Robert Zubrin, author of Mars Direct, argues that it made moon voyages and trips to Mars technically and economically feasible. With market forces rendering space technologies less expensive, tourism in space, exploiting space’s resources and even colonizing space, Zubrin enthusiastically writes, are now conceivable.

Spaceflight

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket was capable of carrying more than 50 tons into orbit, and its boosters could return to land for refueling and reuse.