<story><title>SpaceX successfully lands its sixth Falcon 9 rocket after launch</title><url>http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/14/12467632/spacex-falcon-9-jcsat-16-drone-ship-landing-success</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>davej</author><text>&amp;gt; SpaceX’s president, Gwynne Shotwell, estimates that reusing these landed Falcon 9 vehicles will lead to a 30 percent reduction in launch costs, according to Space News.&lt;p&gt;Surely it will be more than a 30% reduction once they make the rocket refactoring process more efficient? I&amp;#x27;ve heard Elon say that the savings would be an order of magnitude given how low the cost of fuel is relative to everything else on the rocket.&lt;p&gt;I know Elon is famously optimistic and Gwynne is probably dampening expectations on purpose but 30% doesn&amp;#x27;t seem very impressive. Is Gwynne just playing down the cost savings or is she likely to be accurate, even in the medium term (3-5 years)?</text></comment>
<story><title>SpaceX successfully lands its sixth Falcon 9 rocket after launch</title><url>http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/14/12467632/spacex-falcon-9-jcsat-16-drone-ship-landing-success</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>richardw</author><text>What could SpaceX have learned about landing a rocket on a boat resting on waves?&lt;p&gt;It seems like the craziest idea. I would have said &amp;quot;No chance. Land it on land, like the word says.&amp;quot; but they&amp;#x27;ve managed the risks down to where it&amp;#x27;s not surprising that they&amp;#x27;ve landed yet another one. Some special magic has gone into that and I can&amp;#x27;t even imagine what issues they&amp;#x27;ve had to solve.</text></comment>