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Musk: SpaceX Now Has “All the Pieces” For Truly Reusable Rockets
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/rockets/musk-spacex-now-has-all-the-pieces-for-reusable-rockets-15985616?click=pm_news
Musk: SpaceX Now Has “All the Pieces” For Truly Reusable Rockets
A successful flight test of the Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket on Sunday demonstrated booster-return capability on a flight to orbit. The technology could enable reusable orbital launch vehicles as early as February.
By Michael Belfiore
September 30, 2013 12:10 PM
<snip>
"I believe it's the first time that any rocket stage has attempted to do a supersonic retropropulsion," Musk said in the call, referring to the rocket burn that is required to slow a spacecraft below orbital speed so that it can reenter the atmosphere. This was the first flight test of the tech SpaceX has been using in its Grasshopper testing—the company has been flying a Falcon 9 first stage with one engine on successively higher test hops at its McGregor, Texas facility, showing that the rocket could return to and land on its launchpad.
"We now believe we have all the pieces of the puzzle," Musk said on the press call. "If you take the Grasshopper tests, where we were able to do a precision takeoff and landing of a Falcon 9 first stage, and you combine it with the results from this flight—where we were able to successfully transition from vacuum through hypersonic, through supersonic, through transonic, and light the engines all the way and control the stage all the way through—we have all the pieces necessary to achieve a full recovery of the boost stage."
<snip>
Recovering booster rockets intact and refurbishing them for subsequent flights is a big deal, since, as Musk said in the call, three-quarters of the cost of an Falcon 9 rocket covers the first stage. Recovering most of that initial investment could dramatically lower the cost of going to space. (SpaceX's published price for a Falcon 9 launch is $54 million.) However, there is a tradeoff. Musk told reporters yesterday that loading a Falcon 9 with enough fuel to make it reusable would result in 30 percent less payload reaching orbit if the rocket comes back for a touchdown on land or 15 percent less for a water landing.
The next orbital flight test of the Grasshopper technology is planned for the next International Space Station delivery mission for SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship, currently slated for February. If all goes well, Musk says, the first stage of the Falcon 9 used for that flight will have landing legs. The plan is to have the first stage booster touch down back at its Cape Canaveral launch site.
<snip>
Musk: SpaceX Now Has “All the Pieces” For Truly Reusable Rockets
A successful flight test of the Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket on Sunday demonstrated booster-return capability on a flight to orbit. The technology could enable reusable orbital launch vehicles as early as February.
By Michael Belfiore
September 30, 2013 12:10 PM
<snip>
"I believe it's the first time that any rocket stage has attempted to do a supersonic retropropulsion," Musk said in the call, referring to the rocket burn that is required to slow a spacecraft below orbital speed so that it can reenter the atmosphere. This was the first flight test of the tech SpaceX has been using in its Grasshopper testing—the company has been flying a Falcon 9 first stage with one engine on successively higher test hops at its McGregor, Texas facility, showing that the rocket could return to and land on its launchpad.
"We now believe we have all the pieces of the puzzle," Musk said on the press call. "If you take the Grasshopper tests, where we were able to do a precision takeoff and landing of a Falcon 9 first stage, and you combine it with the results from this flight—where we were able to successfully transition from vacuum through hypersonic, through supersonic, through transonic, and light the engines all the way and control the stage all the way through—we have all the pieces necessary to achieve a full recovery of the boost stage."
<snip>
Recovering booster rockets intact and refurbishing them for subsequent flights is a big deal, since, as Musk said in the call, three-quarters of the cost of an Falcon 9 rocket covers the first stage. Recovering most of that initial investment could dramatically lower the cost of going to space. (SpaceX's published price for a Falcon 9 launch is $54 million.) However, there is a tradeoff. Musk told reporters yesterday that loading a Falcon 9 with enough fuel to make it reusable would result in 30 percent less payload reaching orbit if the rocket comes back for a touchdown on land or 15 percent less for a water landing.
The next orbital flight test of the Grasshopper technology is planned for the next International Space Station delivery mission for SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship, currently slated for February. If all goes well, Musk says, the first stage of the Falcon 9 used for that flight will have landing legs. The plan is to have the first stage booster touch down back at its Cape Canaveral launch site.
<snip>
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Thanks for the thread, bananas.
