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Will Starship or Neutron Replace the Falcon 9 Rocket?
A discussion of differences in rocket design philosophies and strategies of SpaceX and Rocket Lab
Falcon 9 is currently dominating the rocket launch industry. No rocket is launched as frequently as the Falcon 9 rocket. A key part of this success comes from the ability to reuse part of the rocket. Allow me to clarify how: A modern rocket launched into space is composed of multiple-stages. The bottom stage is an extra powerful rocket which is meant to get the rocket off the ground out of the Earth’s gravity well. It has large, powerful engines and big fuel tanks.
The booster is the most expensive part of the rocket. SpaceX has managed to design the Falcon 9 such that after a launch, the booster stage can land again and be reused in another launch. That way, you only need to pay for the cheaper second stage of the rocket. Back when a Falcon 9 launch was priced at $62 million, it was estimated that the cost of the booster was $25 million. Recovering it and getting it ready for another launch has been estimated to cost only $0.25 million.
