This year has already been a rather epic one for SpaceX and Elon Musk, and it's only February. Just last week, we saw the Falcon 9’s third successful landing on solid ground, a landing which took place alongside SpaceX’s first commercial rocket launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The significance of these reusable rocket landings cannot be overstated.
Successfully reusing boosters is a critical part of bringing down the cost of launches, as we won’t have to build a completely new rocket for every single mission. According to SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, reusability is expected to lower the cost of launches by a staggering 30 percent.
This would allow for more frequent launches and, as a result, faster progress in both commercial spaceflight and our off-world research and exploration. But it seems that Elon Musk has something else up his sleeve.
SpaceX announcement tomorrow at 1pm PST
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 27, 2017
"SpaceX announcement coming at 1 p.m. PST," Musk wrote on Twitter yesterday. If you need some translation, that means that the reveal is set for 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT).
Unfortunately, SpaceX representatives won't say anything more than simply "stay tuned." As a result, speculation abounds. Do they have an update on their mission to get humans Mars? News about the development of the Falcon Heavy rocket? Are they launching a new kind of program? Do they have a new major contract?
We will have to wait until this afternoon to see.
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