SpaceX Goes For Two Big Reuse Milestones With Next Launch (arstechnica.com) 22
SpaceX is returning to the launch pad to send its second batch of Starlink Internet satellites into low Earth orbit. "On Tuesday, SpaceX completed a static test firing of the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage that is presently scheduled to launch on November 11 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida," reports Ars Technica. "Beyond the primary mission, this flight is going for two rocket reuse milestones." From the report: This will be the first time that SpaceX has attempted to fly the same Falcon 9 first stage four times. This particular stage flew on July 25 (Iridium 7 mission) and October 8 (SAOCOM 1-A) in 2018 as well as February 22 (Nusantara Satu and Beresheet spacecraft) this year. Additionally, SpaceX will also attempt to reuse a payload fairing for the first time. After a Falcon Heavy launch of the Arabsat-6A mission in April, SpaceX recovered both halves of the payload fairing from the Atlantic Ocean. Those fairings have since been refurbished -- it is not clear how much work needed to be done to clean them and mitigate the effects of any salt water damage -- and will now fly on the Starlink mission.
Looking forward to starlink operational (Score:3, Interesting)
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Likewise. The speculation (from their filings) is that it will only cost $60/mo, too, which would be $40/mo cheaper than what we're now paying Exede, and still $20/mo cheaper than the lousiest Exede plan.
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I foresee a HUGE opportunity here and elsewhere for Starlink. I know that we will switch as quickly as they are available.
Great but not definitive. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm glad they are upping their reusable rocketry game but it's important to remember this isn't a developed field, not by a long shot. There will be a failure at some point but that doesn't mean that's the limit of the technology but rather it means there is more development to be done and new materials to be tested.
Baby steps.
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Man, Rei is busy today! Don't forget to get packed for Mars. Any day now.
What, did Rei hurt your feelings so badly that you feel the urge the bash him on every Elon Musk related post?
Here's a suggestion, either bring an insightful opinion on the debate or shut the fuck up and kept your meaningless vendetta to yourself.
Moron.
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SpaceX has a proven track record. You don't. I'd certainly bet on them landing Starship on Mars. Currently they're planning on the moon first, though, and we;ll see how that goes.
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SpaceX has a proven track record. You don't.
Actually, I have to differ with you on that. He, like other trolls here, DOES have a proven track record. But, you can give him credit. He does not appear to post as AC like some other POS.
Escaping the gravity well on a budget (Score:2)
Interestingly enough, the payload fairing (protective nose cone) reuse saves $6 million (5.4 million Euros), minus the cost of refurbishing.
The launch requires this important feature to protect the payload from heat and pressure. It is also essential that it jettison from the rocket at the appropriate time to avoid being an obstruction [wikipedia.org] as happened to the launch of the Augmented Target Docking Adapter, or a millstone that drags a payload out of orbit.
Perhaps this trend toward the reusable will not be exploi
Re:Escaping the gravity well on a budget (Score:4, Informative)
For perspective, a non-expended LEO launch sticker price is $62 million dollars and they are already cheaper than any of the established competition. Fully reusable fairings have the mathematical possibility of increasing their gross margin on flights by 9%. The net is probably half that, but still very non-trivial.
According to Mr. Musk, the big impact of this is they don't have room, space on the factory floor, to manufacture fairings in quantity. The cost savings of the fairing is a nice-to-have, but not a key driver.
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Rocketlab is in a similar spot with reusing their rockets. They're not doing it for the cost savings (the CEO was very public about saying they were never going to reuse launch vehicles) but rather because they simply can't make them fast enough.
Getting to space is getting cheaper and that's awesome!
Re:Escaping the gravity well on a budget (Score:5, Informative)
Payload fairings are not used for Dragon capsule launches, since the capsule it aerodynamically robust all on its own.
When it comes to the Crew Dragon (i.e., the human-rated capsule), NASA and SpaceX have agreed that they will not be re-used for human spaceflight. When they are re-used, it'll just be for ferrying cargo.
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No, they have agreed that currently they won't be used to ferry NASA astronauts. SpaceX is free to use them to fly their own passengers on other missions.