Musk’s SpaceX has taken significant leaps in space exploration

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In 1969, Neil Armstrong took his historic step onto the lunar surface and declared, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." This profound moment not only marked humanity’s first journey to another celestial body, but a new era of space exploration that inspired generations. A few days ago, when SpaceX in an unprecedented ‘chopsticks’ manoeuvre caught a rocket’s massive booster stage as it descended back to Earth, CEO Elon Musk tweeted: “Big step towards making life multiplanetary was made today." Just as Armstrong’s Moon landing signified a huge leap for mankind, SpaceX’s advancements symbolize humanity’s re-defined relationship with the cosmos.

Each successful launch and recovery brings us closer to making space travel a routine affair. The feat of catching a booster for re-use not only exemplifies SpaceX’s cutting-edge engineering, but also raises a provocative question: Are we as a species going to conquer the heavens? SpaceX was born from Musk’s vision of a human settlement on Mars, a “positive, constructive, inspirational goal" to unite humanity in challenging times. To that end, he proposed $20 million for a ‘Mars Oasis’ project, an initiative aimed at sending a robotic lander to Mars by 2005 and creating a mini greenhouse.

Unfortunately, the plan did not materialize, largely due to the exorbitant costs of launching rockets into space. This obstacle prompted the birth of SpaceX. In the following years, through cutting-edge research, the company went about trying to revolutionize the rocket-launch industry, lowering costs.