Plus, reusable rockets are a lot cleaner than letting them sink to the seafloor, with propellant residue inside. Or letting them burn up in the atmosphere, where heavy metals degrade the ozone layer and have other negative effects.
Sure. That’s why I’m looking forward to Starship, and, in the distant future, a space elevator. But we need rapidly reusable rockets before we can build an elevator.
Plus, reusable rockets are a lot cleaner than letting them sink to the seafloor, with propellant residue inside. Or letting them burn up in the atmosphere, where heavy metals degrade the ozone layer and have other negative effects.
Half of the rocket still gets disposed and “burns up”. There’s nothing clean about injecting kerosene and methane into the upper atmosphere.
Sure. That’s why I’m looking forward to Starship, and, in the distant future, a space elevator. But we need rapidly reusable rockets before we can build an elevator.