SpaceX COO: 'Though It's Really Great To See Others Follow In Our Footstep, I Think It Is Pretty Hard To Catch Us'

While Elon Musk is best known for disrupting and transforming how people travel with Tesla Motors Inc TSLA, it’s his other company SpaceX that is really working towards disrupting how humans will travel in the future by making a big bet on recoverable rockets.

SpaceX was recently awarded with the second spot on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list.

SpaceX's COO Gwynne Shotwell was on CNBC Tuesday to discuss how close is SpaceX in making recoverable rocket a reality and its hopes for getting military contracts.

Competition

Shotwell was asked about what she thinks of other competitors who are working on recoverable rockets same like SpaceX is doing. She replied, “We have years of experience on the recoverability and the usability piece. So, though it’s really great to see others follow in our footstep, I think it is pretty hard to catch us.

How Close?

On how close is the company in achieving the goal of making a recoverable rocket, Shotwell said, “I think we are actually going to recover the boost stage this year and hopefully re-fly it this year as well. It’s absolutely critical in order to move life to other planets.”

“You can imagine what would air travel be like if you toss the aircraft after flying from Los Angeles to New York, it would be very expensive, it would be incredibly prohibitive. So, it’s critical for us to facilitate human access to space to help recoverability.”

Military Contracts

Shotwell agreed that getting military contracts would be important for SpaceX. She said, “Well, no question that it’s a new revenue stream. But fundamentally we believe our vehicles are the most reliable and we certainly want to support our sons and daughters overseas by putting satellites in place that will help them.”