Elon Musk Plans Falcon 9 Upper Stage Recovery With ‘Giant Party Balloon’

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk expressed plans of recovering the upper stages of the Falcon 9 rocket using "a giant party balloon" Sunday — a move that could significantly cut costs for his company if executed successfully.

Launching rockets into space isn’t an easy endeavor. It demands some of the brightest minds in the field and some hefty funding. SpaceX’s single Falcon 9 launch costs about $62 million, considering the fact they have mastered the first-stage recovery over the years and have been flying used boosters time and again.

Now, if the company manages to take control of the upper stages with something as cost-effective as a balloon, it would be a major advantage in the business, especially with massive interplanetary missions lined up for the future, Engadget reported.

Musk shared the plan via Twitter and provided a few added details on how the whole thing will be done. He even noted the idea may sound "crazy" to many.

This is because unlike the first stage, which returns and lands safely to Earth, upper stage recovery from orbital velocity is way more challenging. As PCMag reported, the task requires landing engines, heat shield, and other equipment, which, in theory, might increase the mass of the stage and spoil the whole recovery attempt.

But in this case, as Musk noted, the balloon might do the job and drop the stage’s ballistic coefficient or the ability to overcome air resistance by two orders of magnitude. This would slow it down while retaining its shape and enabling recovery.

Next, in order to finish the job, SpaceX will use retrograde burns to pick a spot in the ocean where it would stage the drop. “We already do targeted retro burn to a specific point in Pacific w no islands or ships, so upper stage doesn’t become a dead satellite,” Musk said while replying on his original Tweet. “Need to retarget closer to shore & position catcher ship like Mr Steven.”

The idea sounds fascinating and this is Musk and SpaceX we are talking about. If his company can land two first stages of Falcon Heavy in perfect sync, this might also be accomplished, no matter how weird or crazy it may sound. For now, other details on the move remain unclear, including when it might be executed.