Elon Musk says his reusable rocket is ready for another launch

While you were celebrating New Years Eve, Elon Musk was assessing the damage to SpaceX’s recently landed Falcon 9 rocket. OK, we don’t know that for sure, but the SpaceX founder did tweet a closeup image of the rocket shortly before the clock stroke midnight on E.T. time, so at least part of his attention was turned to work. Falcon 9 is back in the hangar at Cape Canaveral, Musk said on Twitter and Instagram, posting a photo in which the rocket appears to be in very good shape. “No damage found, ready to fire again,” he tweeted. After several unsuccessful attempts to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on an ocean platform, SpaceX finally nailed the landing on solid ground on Dec. 21. The landing is important as it allows SpaceX to re-use the rocket’s first stage on multiple missions, and thus reduce overall cost of spaceflight. A Falcon 9 rocket costs about $16 million to manufacture. Interestingly, Musk said, during a post-landing press call, that the company likely won’t use the Falcon 9 first stage on any new missions, since it’s the first rocket the company successfully brought back to Earth, making it “kind of unique.”