Elon Musk claims we’ve opened the door to establishing a Martian city

SpaceX’s audacious vertical rocket landing on Monday lays a critical foundation for reusable rockets that could help humans colonize Mars, according to the company’s CEO Elon Musk. “This is a critical step towards establishing a city on Mars,” he said, during a conference call with reporters after Monday’s launch. “Without [reusable rockets], it would be unaffordable – it dramatically improves my confidence that a city on Mars is possible, it’s what all this is about.” After successfully sending its Falcon 9 rocket into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the satellite launch mission, the company landed a 15-story leftover booster rocket back on Earth. Musk noted that each Falcon 9 rocket costs $60 million, while the propellant for each launch costs around $200,000. “The potential cost reduction over the long term is probably in excess of a factor of 100.” Chris Carberry, executive director of Explore Mars, a non-profit organization that aims to advance the goal of sending humans to Mars within the next two decades, applauded SpaceX’s achievement.