SpaceX and Elon Musk recently shed light on the most important component in building a multi-planetary spaceship, cost. Musk says they’ve figured out how to pay for the Big Falcon Rocket system (BFR), by cannibalizing their own products and making them redundant. SpaceX will build one system to do everything in greater earth orbit. This will allow SpaceX to redirect resources from Flacon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon and apply them to the new BFR System.
SpaceX also believes its BFR can change the way we travel here on Earth. Once reaching space, and out of Earth’s atmosphere you can travel at 18,000 mph with no weather or turbulence. Reaching destinations across the globe in as little as a half hour. Imagine traveling from New York to Paris in as little as a half hour.
SpaceX CEO and Lead Designer Elon Musk presented an updated vehicle design for what’s currently being referred to as BFR. A key challenge with the original vehicle design was figuring out how to pay for it. The updated design solves this problem by leveraging a slightly smaller vehicle that can service all greater Earth orbit needs as well as the Moon and Mars. This single system—one booster and one ship—will eventually replace Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon. By creating a single system that can service a variety of markets, SpaceX can redirect resources from Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon to the BFR system—which is fundamental in making BFR affordable.
Source: SpaceX
