SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Friday questioned the European Space Agency’s reusability attempts with its Ariane 6 launch vehicle.
What Happened: “Reusability plans?” Musk wrote in response to the picture of the second booster of Ariane 6 shared by the agency on X.
The booster in the picture will help power the rocket’s first flight to space in summer, ESA said.
Ariane 6 was initially expected to fly in 2020 but faced several delays. With Ariane 6’s predecessor Ariane 5 having its last flight in July and the Vega-C rocket being taken out of service in December 2022 following a failure, the European Space Agency is now left with no autonomous access to space.
The Ariane 6, therefore, is a major focus point for the European space industry. The launch vehicle is manufactured by ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran.
Reusability In The Space Industry: Ariane 6 is not reusable but expendable, meaning it can only be launched once. Musk’s SpaceX, meanwhile, is attempting to make its rockets reusable to bring down the cost of spaceflight.
In July 2023, Musk warned that rocket manufacturers will need to go all-in on reusability or risk being uncompetitive.
“Rockets are no different from other transport technologies, just harder to make reusable. No one would buy a single-use airplane, car or even bicycle! You’d need to tow another car just for the return trip,” Musk then said.
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