The rockets are nifty, but it is satellites that make SpaceX valuable
Elon Musk’s space venture may soon be more valuable than Tesla
There was no mistaking the feat of engineering. The bottom half of the biggest object ever flown—by itself as tall as a 747 is long—came hurtling out of the sky so fast that it glowed from the friction. With the ground rushing to meet it, a cluster of its engines briefly relit, slowing the rocket and guiding it carefully back towards the same steel tower from which it had launched just seven minutes previously. A pair of arms swang closed to catch it, leaving it suspended and smoking in the early-morning sunshine.
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This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Filling up space”
From the October 19th 2024 edition
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