SpaceX future plans

SpaceX future plans are somewhat apparent in their commercial releases and public talks, but what is happening underneath all that fuzz?
Here is a comprehensive article on what you can expect from SpaceX in 2018.

SpaceX for those of you don’t know (or have been living on mars for the past years) is an aerospace company and the first of its kind. Before SpaceX, nobody would have ever thought that space flight could be possible on a commercial scale. And even beyond this, a private company would be the world’s biggest hope for space exploration and expeditions. This mere idea was unfathomable.

But SpaceX has proved its grounds and stood out every obstacle on its way to reaching above and beyond. As of today, there is an Electric supercar (the fastest car on the planet) orbiting the Earth. Unbelievable right?

Well, in our opinion it’s an amazing marketing strategy. The announcement of the new Tesla roadster was epic back in November 2017. But the launch of the Falcon Heavy with a Tesla Roadster on its top is like every nerd’s dream come true. The FH or Falcon Heavy Rocket is a top of the line space rocket and as of now the most powerful rocket out there too.

Both Tesla and SpaceX are among the leading companies in their respective technologies.

Although there has been a recent drop in the stock prices of both Tesla and SpaceX but do expect both of them to rise significantly this year.
As this year is off to a good start for both Tesla and SpaceX. Both the companies are under the undivided attention and care of the genius Elon Musk. Elon Musk’s vision for SpaceX is very far fetched and properly planned.

We have seen in the past that Elon will do anything and take huge risks for the SpaceX to thrive in space travel and set a new milestone for human beings as a  species. SpaceX main goal is to make human beings a multi-planetary species, according to Elon Musk himself. And Elon sees this happening in the coming 5-10 years.

Whether this happens or not, is a talk of a bit distant future. But what do SpaceX plans for 2018?

SpaceX future plans – for the year 2018

These are few shots from the recent Falcon Heavy launch.

Although with the launch of Falcon heavy has put SpaceX as of right now in a good position.
But what are SpaceX future plans that might help elevate SpaceX further in 2018?
Well, there are many speculations going on as to what this emerging aerospace company might do in the near future to get more and more investors excited about their mission.

Here are a few SpaceX future plans that you may hear about in the coming future…

The merger of SpaceX and Tesla Motors

If you haven’t heard already, there is a rumor going around that Space X and Tesla might be merged together before the end of 2018. The Tesla-SpaceX merger will directly impact on both the companies in a good way. As the moment this may happen and both companies do decide to merge together, the stock prices of a single company after the Tesla-SpaceX merger might actually become double than their added individual market value.

Earth to earth in half-hour – commercial space flight

SpaceX has also some plans for the city to city travel with a space rocket. Elon pitched this in September 2017, saying that Space X is planning to create the fastest ever way to travel to any country on earth.
According to Elon Musk himself  ‘Anywhere on Earth in under an hour’.

Elon also said that he hopes to begin construction on this rocket in 6 to 9 months, Which means we might be able to see it in action (at least a test launch) within 2018. This idea does sound fascinating as it reduces the time of travel significantly.  Some travel routes along with estimated time are told by SpaceX which include Hong Kong to Singapore in 22 minutes, Los Angeles to Toronto in 24 minutes, New York to Paris in 30 minutes, and many more

Second Falcon Heavy launch

According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the second launch or another launch for Falcon Heavy will not be happening for another “three to six months”. This is because there are various costs involved in launching a rocket and it is obviously not cheap. And as in this launch, there were some issues faced in landing falcon heavy center core which SpaceX confirms that it lost during the landing. However, apart from the falcon heavy center core, its two main boosters landed safe and sound. And always watching those boosters land vertically is a feast for the eyes of any tech-savvy.

Notice how Elon emphasized that we shouldn’t expect another launch of falcon heavy for 3 to 6 months. This is because he wants the next launch to be perfect along with a perfect landing of that center core. Which we will surely see within 2018 along with hopefully some other surprises.

Roadster news

Do you really think launching an electric supercar “The Roadster” into space was a coincidence?
Bet not. As previously mentioned we do think that it was an amazing marketing strategy. But it can be more than that. As Elon and Tesla always surprise its audience. The announcement of the new Roadster was epic and what is more amazing than that is its speed. Said to be the fastest car till production, period. Although the Roadster is said to arrive for the customers by 2022. But we think that there might be some news coming in late 2018 regarding the Roadster or some other Tesla news.

BFR Launch

The BFR or Big Falcon Rocket is next after Falcon Heavy. Elon said that BFR might be ready for “short hopper flights with the spaceship part”. So taking this statement into account we can make an assumption that after the Heavy Falcon, the Big Falcon Rocket of BFR is next. The Earth to Earth flights that Elon announced in late 2017 is also said to happen with the BFR. So, we can expect a test launch of BFR within 2018.

The main purpose of the payload of BFR is to ensure multi-planetary travel (or at least come and go out of atmospheres without damage). As when a rocket is coming towards the ground or leaving the atmosphere, a huge amount of heat is produced. So, when there are supposed to be actual people inside then every thing has to be spot on.

The BFR certainly has a big part in SpaceX future plans. As this is the traveling vehicle that most of the SpaceX’s future flights will be carried on.

“There are a lot of uncertainties around this program, but it is going to be our focus”
–Musk.

Advance booking for mars

Elon and SpaceX have at many points hinted that the first flight to Mars could leave as early as 2022. That is only 4 years from now, even with many hurdles and delays along the way this time period estimation is quite realistic. With many ups and downs that will come along the way.

At many times both SpaceX and Tesla has found themselves losing the interest of investors, not significantly only marginally. But this loss is what pushes both these company to pre-release or make services available for people to pre-book. What does this tell us about the mission to Mars? Well, obviously the first or even the tenth team arriving on mars will be for research purposes. But what about after that?

Chances are that within this year after a sound demonstration of the Big Falcon Rocket(BFR), SpaceX may allow people to advance book for mars.
We know this statement is a shot in the dark and might be even unbearable for some people. But isn’t this what Elon has been doing in case of Tesla?

Although nobody really knows what SpaceX future plans really are if all goes well, we might be able to book a ticket to the red planet sooner than we think.
Maybe they will do it as a stunt too like they did with the roadster by launching it into space.
Maybe only one ticket could be available to purchase by some investor?

Whatever the case may be, the chances of advance booking for mars in 2018 are high.

Conclusion

Whatever SpaceX future plans might be.
We can surely expect something extraordinary and out of the world from an aerospace company like SpaceX.
(Pun intended)