What SpaceX is doing which others aren't?

 S1 Ep:1 Space Titan

SpaceX

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.

-Elon musk.

Elon Musk and SpaceX

Introduction

As you might know that Spacex(a.k.a Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) is one of the largest commercial space organizations which pioneer space exploration and every other thing related to space. This organization was set up in 2002 by the world-renowned entrepreneur Elon Musk. Its headquarters are located in Hawthrone, California. Also, it was the first private company to successfully launch and return a spacecraft from Earth orbit. As you also know, the first to dock a spacecraft on the International Space Station(ISS).

Falcon Heavy liftoff

This was all in the past now coming to the present it currently has three vehicles to transport satellites and people to space. Naming; Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon. From which the only Dragon is made for taking people to space. The others which are Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are used to transport satellites to space into the Earth’s orbit.

Space launch site

At first like all space companies, they used to launch their vehicle in Cape Canaveral near Kennedy space center for which they used to pay a lot of amounts so in the early 2010s. SpaceX decided and figured out some eligible sites for spaceport and then decided on Boca chica. Around 2014 SpaceX bought 41 acres and took no issue lease around 57 acres of land near the Boca Chica village and Boca chica beach. After that company bought the whole village.

Aircrafts

As a matter of fact, the Dragon aircraft was the first American spacecraft to autonomously dock with the International Space Station that too recently in 2019. The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth orbit, and beyond. The pressurized section of the capsule is designed to carry both people and environmentally sensitive cargo. Towards the base of the capsule and contained within the nose cone are the Draco thrusters, which allow for orbital maneuvering. Dragon’s trunk not only carries unpressurized cargo but also supports the spacecraft during ascent. The trunk remains attached to Dragon until shortly before reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Well, that's enough about the Dragon now let’s talk about the other two vehicles. Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. Falcon 9 is the first orbital-class rocket capable of flight. I believe rocket reusability is the key breakthrough needed to reduce the cost of access to space and enable people to live on other planets. 

Falcon 9 liftoff

Well, do you know that the cargo space in Falcon 9 is so big that it can actually fit a whole bus inside it? Don’t be fascinated by just that we have yet to come to Falcon Heavy. Falcon 9 made history in 2012 when it delivered Dragon into the correct orbit for rendezvous with the International Space Station, making SpaceX the first commercial company ever to visit the station. Since then Falcon 9 has made numerous trips to space, delivering satellites to orbit as well as delivering and returning cargo from the space station for NASA. Falcon 9, along with the Dragon spacecraft, was designed from the outset to deliver humans into space and under an agreement with NASA. Now I suppose that this would sum up the Falcon 9. There is too much knowledge on Wikipedia you can refer to that for more. Now transferring to the world's most powerful rocket The Falcon Heavy. Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons, a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage, and fuel.

Dragon craft

Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars. But unfortunately, they dropped the idea of transporting people through the Falcon rockets because of safety reasons. Of Course, no one wants to be squat like a bug under overwhelming force because of the thrust they create, it's literally impossible for a human to exert its body to that extent. And to solve this problem they have started a Starship program to send people and cargo together to space. SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket (collectively referred to as Starship) represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Starship will be the world's most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry more than 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit. Drawing on an extensive history of the launch vehicle and engine development programs, SpaceX has been rapidly iterating on the design of Starship with orbital-flight targeted for 2020. But yet again unfortunately due to this CoronaVirus outbreak this program is paused and will continue as soon as it is safe. SpaceX's huge Mars-colonizing Starship vehicle could make its first extraterrestrial touchdown in just three short years. And Starship could start putting NASA payloads down on Earth's nearest neighbor quite soon if all goes according to plan. "We are aiming to be able to drop Starship on the lunar surface in 2022," SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said during a NASA-organized CLPS teleconference Monday (Nov. 18, 2019). SpaceX is one of five companies that are newly eligible to deliver robotic payloads to the lunar surface for NASA, via the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

Starhopper (a part of the starship)

Collaborations and misc. 

SpaceX proposes to do this work with Starship and Super Heavy, the reusable spaceship-rocket the duo that the company is developing primarily to help humanity become a multi-planet species. SpaceX is not guaranteed to fly a CLPS mission that year, or any year. SpaceX is just eligible now to bid on NASA lunar delivery services; it will still have to beat out the rest of the CLPS pool, which is now 14 companies strong, for each moon contract. NASA views CLPS as a key enabler of its Artemis program of crewed lunar exploration, which aims to put two astronauts, including the first woman, on the moon by 2024 and establish a long-term human presence there by 2028.             

Conclusion

Taking these all things into consideration we see that SpaceX has a long way to go and might even face much criticism and difficulties in its way that’s for sure. But how they make it out of it and progress ahead will still be a challenge for them. And I don’t think that Elon Musk will be satisfied with just starting a colony in space or even the commercialization of space. He would go much further and deeper to check and find out the depths of it. Next time I will talk about the Virgin galactic. And bring to you its awesome facts so stay tuned and be safe.