Elon Musk is Destroying the Cost of Getting to Space

Exploring the final frontier is a costly proposition, but Elon Musk and the engineers at SpaceX want to make it more affordable. Recently, Musk announced that he wanted to reduce the cost of sending colonists to Mars from approximately $10 billion per person to a much more reasonable $200,000 per personOpens in a new tab. Granted, that figure would require 1 million colonists to embark on the biggest move of their lives, but it’s a start. Now, in the wake of the United States Air Force’s reportOpens in a new tab that they will spend $422 million per satellite launch by the year 2021, Elon Musk is dropping the mic yet again with his assertion that SpaceX can do it far cheaper than the competition.

SpaceX was recently awardedOpens in a new tab two Air Force contracts that cost $86 million and $96.5 million, respectively, which is astronomically cheaper than the Air Force’s estimatesOpens in a new tab. This is because the Air Force only launches satellites through the United Launch Alliance, a join venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin that until recently held a monopoly on the military branch’s space launches. Forget Geico; the Air Force should switch to SpaceXOpens in a new tab if they want to save 15 percent or more on launching satellites over the next several years, a fact that Elon Musk was all too quick to remind them of on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/875509067011153924

In addition to the Air Force’s confusing business practices, today’s episode of Muskwatch is going to talk about the plans to institute Hyperloop-esque high-speed travel in South Korea, the Tesla vehicle that can travel for 1000 kilometers (or 1 megameter) on a single charge, and NASA’s plans to basically force us to reenact the plot of Armageddon at some point in the future.

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MuskwatchOpens in a new tab airs on Nerdist.com and YouTubeOpens in a new tab every Tuesdaybut you can hack the planet and watch it two full days earlier on Sunday if you’re an Alpha subscriberOpens in a new tab. Find out how you can get 30 days free (and be 48 hours smarter than your dumb friends) right hereOpens in a new tab.

What do you think of this week’s top stories? What else would you like to see us discuss on Muskwatch? Let us know in the comments below!