SpaceX reusable rocket | Wikipedia audio article
The, spacex, reusable. Launch system, development, program, is a privately. Funded program, to develop a set of new technologies. For an orbital, launch system, that may be reused, many times in a manner similar to the reusability, of aircraft, the. Company. SpaceX is. Developing. The technologies. Over a number of years to facilitate. Full and rapid, reusability, of space, launch vehicles. The. Project's, long term objectives. Include, returning, a launch vehicle first. Stage, to, the launch site in minutes, and to return a second, stage to, the launch pad following. Orbital, realignment. With the launch site, and atmospheric. Reentry in, up to 24, hours. SpaceX's. Long-term, goal is that both stages, of their orbital, launch vehicle, will be designed, to allow reuse, a few, hours after, return, the program was publicly, announced in 2011. SpaceX. First achieved, a successful landing. And recovery of a first stage in December, 2015, the, first. Re flight of a landed, first stage, occurred, in March, 2017. With the second, occurring, in June, 2017. That one only five months after the maiden flight of the booster, the. Third attempt, occurred in October. 2017. With the SES, 11 echo star 105. Mission. Second. Flights of refurbished. First stages, then became routine. The. Reusable. Launch system, technology. Was developed and, initially, used for the first stages, of the Falcon, family, of rockets. After. Stage separation. The return process involves. Flipping, the booster, around an optional, boost back burn to reverse its course a reentry. Burn controlling. Direction. To arrive at the landing site and a landing burn to affect the final low altitude, deceleration. And touchdown. SpaceX. Intended. From at least 2014. To, develop, technology. To extend, reusable. Flight hardware, to second, stages, a more challenging, engineering. Problem, because, the vehicle, is traveling, at orbital, velocity. Which. Is considered, paramount, to the plans Elon, Musk is championing, to enable, the settlement, of Mars, it. Is thus planned to be developed, for all of the flight Hardware for the new space X vehicles, planned to transit, to Mars with, initial, test flights expected. No earlier than 2020. SpaceX. Will also, experiment. With second. Stage recovery, on a few select, Falcon, 9 flights, or Falcon, Heavy flights. After. 2017. Much, of the reusable, technology, development, work and testing, turned substantially. Toward, advances. In reusable. Second, stage with integrated. Spaceship, technology. To support bfr, use not merely in Earth's atmosphere, but also as, intended, to be used on solar systems, celestial, bodies, such as the Moon and, Mars with, very diverse, atmospheric. Characteristics. Topic. History. SpaceX. Initially, attempted, to land the first stage of the Falcon, 1 by parachute. However the stage did, not survive, the reentry. Into the atmosphere. They. Continued. To experiment, with parachutes. On the earliest, Falcon 9 flights after 2010. SpaceX. Subsequently. Switched, its focus to developing, a powered, descent landing, system, the broad outline, of the reusable, launch system, was first publicly, described. In September. 2011. SpaceX. Said it would attempt to develop powered, descent and, recovery, of both Falcon, 9 stages, a fully. Vertical, takeoff vertical. Landing, btv, L rocket. The. Company, produced, a computer, animated, video, depicting, a notional, view of the first stage returning. Tail-first for. A powered, descent and, the second, stage with a heat shield re-entering, headfirst, before, rotating for. A powered, descent, in. September. 2012. SpaceX. Began, flight tests, on a prototype, reusable. First stage, with, the suborbital. Grasshopper. Rocket, those. Tests, continued, into 2014. Including. Testing, of a second, and larger prototype, vehicle, f9r, dev, 1. News. Of the grasshopper, test rocket had become public, a few days earlier, when the US Federal, Aviation. Administration. Released a draft environmental, impact. Assessment. For the SpaceX, test site in Texas, and the space media, had reported it, in. May 2012. SpaceX. Obtained, a set of atmospheric. Test data for the recovery, of the Falcon, 9 first, stage based, on. 176. Test runs in the NASA Marshall, Space Flight Center wind. Tunnel test facility. The. Work was contracted, for by SpaceX. Under, a reimbursable, space, act agreement with, NASA in 2012. It was projected, that the first stage separation of, a reusable falcon, 9 rocket would. Occur at a velocity of, approximately Mach. 6, 2.0. Per, second. 7400. Km/h. 4600, miles per, hour, rather than mac-10. 3.4. Kilometers, per second, 12,000. Kilometers, per hour. 7600. Miles per hour through an expendable. Falcon, 9 to provide the residual, fuel necessary, for the deceleration, and turnaround, maneuver, and the controlled, descent and, landing in, November. 2012, CEO. Elon, Musk announced, SpaceX is plans to build a second, much larger, reusable. Rocket, system, this one to be powered, by LOX, methane rather.
Than LOX rp1. Used, on Falcon, 9 and Falcon. Heavy, the. New system, was to be an, evolution. Of SpaceX's. Falcon 9. Booster. And, SpaceX. Reiterated. Their commitment, to develop, a breakthrough in, vertical, landing, technology. By. The end of 2012. The demonstration. Test vehicle, grasshopper. Had made 3v, TVL test flights including. A 29, second, hover flight, 240, metres, 130. Feet, on December, 17, 2012. In. Early, March 2013. SpaceX. Successfully, tested. Grasshopper. For a fourth time when it flew to an altitude of, over 80 metres. 260. Feet in March 2013. SpaceX. Announced that, it would instrument. And equip subsequent. Falcon 9 first stages, as, controlled, descent test, vehicles, with plans for overwater. Propulsively. Decelerated. Simulated. Landings, beginning, in 2013, with, the intent, to return the vehicle to the launch site for a powered, landing. Possibly. As early as mid 201. For, the. April 2013, draft. Environmental, impact, statement, for, the proposed, SpaceX. South Texas launch, site, includes, specific, accommodations. For return of the Falcon, 9 first-stage. Boosters, to the launch site. Elon. Musk first publicly, referred, to the reusable. Falcon 9 as the Falcon 9 are in April 2013, in, September. 2013. SpaceX. Successfully relit, three engines, of a spent booster, on an orbital, launch and the booster, re-entered, the atmosphere at. Hypersonic speed. Without burning up with. The data collected. From the first flight test of a booster, controlled, descent from, high altitude. Coupled, with the technological. Advancements. Made on the grasshopper. Low altitude. Landing, demonstrator. SpaceX. Announced it believed it was ready to test a full land recovery, of a booster, stage. Based. On the positive results. From the first high altitude. Flight test SpaceX. Advanced, the expected, date of a test from. Mid-2014. To early 2015, with, the intention, of doing so on the next space station. Cargo, resupply flight. Pending, regulatory, approvals. That. Flight took place on April 18, 2014. Musk, stated, in May 2013, that the goal of the program is to achieve full, and rapid reusability, of the first stage by 2015. And to develop, full launch vehicle, reusability, following. That as part. Of a future design. Architecture. In. February. 2014. SpaceX. Made explicit. That the newly defined super. Heavy launch vehicle, for what was then called Mars colonial. Transporter, would, also make use of the reusable, technology. This. Was consistent. With musk strategic. Statement, in 2012. That the, revolutionary. Breakthrough. Will come with rockets, that are fully and rapidly, reusable. We. Will never conquer, Mars unless, we do that it. Will be too expensive the, American. Colonies, would never have been pioneered. If the ships that cross the ocean, hadn't, been reusable. Also. In May 2014. SpaceX. Publicly. Announced, an extensive. Test program, for a related reusable. Technology app repulsively, landed, space capsule. Called dragonfly. The. Tests, were to be run in Texas, at the McGregor, rocket, test facility. In. 2014-2015. In June 2014. CEO, Gwynne, Shotwell clarified. That all funding, for development and, testing, of the reusable, Launch System, technology. Development, program, is private, funding, from SpaceX, with no contribution. By the US, government, as. Of. 2017. SpaceX. Had spent over a billion, dollars on the development, program for the first time, SpaceX, stated, in July 2014. That, they are highly. Confident. Of being able to land successfully, on. A floating, launch, pad, or back at the launch site and, reef lied the rocket, with no required. Refurbishment. By. Late 2014. SpaceX, suspended. Or abandoned, the plan to recover and reuse the Falcon, 9 second, stage the additional, mass of the required, heat shield landing, gear and low powered, landing, engines, would incur to greater, performance, penalty. In. September. 2016. SpaceX. Announced that development, was underway, to extend. The reusable, flight hardware, to second stages, a more challenging, engineering. Problem, because the vehicle, is traveling, at orbital, velocity. The. Reusable. Technology was. To have been extended, to the 2016. Designs, of both the tanker, and crewed spaceship. Upper stage variants. As well as the first stage of the its launch vehicle, for the interplanetary, transport. System.
And, Is. Considered, paramount, to the plans Elon, Musk is championing. To enable, the settlement, of Mars, in. 2016. Initial. Test flights of an interplanetary transport. System. Vehicle, were expected, no earlier than 2020. In 2017. SpaceX. Was making, test flight progress, in incrementally. And iteratively, developing. A fairing recovery, system. In July, 2017. Musk, said, we, are quite close to being able to recover, the fairing. We've, got a decent shot of recovering, of fairing by the end of the year and reef, light by late this year or early next. The cost savings, to SpaceX. Of recovering, the fairing, is expected, to be on the order of five million dollars. Together. The, booster, stage in the fairing, make up approximately, 80% of, the cost of a launch, despite 2014. Plans to suspend, development. Of falcon 9 second, stage reuse. Musk. Further commented. In July 2017. That a few experimental, attempts. Would be made on particular, future, flights to bring a falcon, 9 second. Stage back. Topic. Technologies. Several. New technologies needed. To be developed, and tested to facilitate. Successful, launch, and recovery, of both stages, of the spacex, reusable. Rocket, launching, system. Following. The completion of the third high-altitude, controlled. Descent test, and the completion, of the third low, altitude, flight of the second-generation. Prototype. Test vehicle, plus eight flights of the first generation. Grasshopper. Prototype, flight test vehicle spacex. Indicated. That they are now able to consistently. Re-enter. From space, at hypersonic, velocity. Restart. Main engines, twice deploy. Landing, legs and, touchdown, at near zero velocity. The. Technologies. That were developed for, this program, some, of which is still being refined include. Restartable. Ignition, system, for the first stage booster. Restarts. Are required, at both supersonic. Velocities, in the upper atmosphere, in. Order, to reverse the high velocity away, from, the launch pad and put the booster, on a descent, trajectory back. Toward, the launch pad and at. High transonic. Velocities. In the lower atmosphere, in. Order, to slow the terminal, descent and, to perform a soft landing. New. Attitude, control, technology. For. The booster, stage and second, stage to. Bring the descending, rocket, body through, the atmosphere. In a manner conducive both, to non-destructive. Return, and sufficient, aerodynamic. Control, such, that the terminal, phase of the landing, is possible. This. Includes, sufficient. Roll control, authority. To keep the rocket, from spinning excessively. As occurred, on the first high altitude, flight test, in September, 2013, where. The roll rate exceeded. The capabilities of, the booster, attitude, control, system ACS. And the fuel in the tanks. Centrifuged. To. The side of the tank shutting, down the single engine involved. In the low altitude, deceleration. Maneuver, the. Technology. Need to handle the transition, from the vacuum of space at. Hypersonic, conditions. Decelerating. To supersonic, velocities. And passing, through transonic. Buffet, before, relighting. One of the main stage engines, at terminal, velocity. Hypersonic. Grid, fins were added, to the booster, test vehicle, design, beginning, on the fifth ocean, controlled, descent test, flight in 2014. In order to enable precision. Landing. Arranged. In an X. Configuration. The grid fins control, the descending, Rockets lift vector once, the vehicle, has returned, to the atmosphere to, enable, a much more precise, landing, location. Iteration. On the design continued. Into 2017. Larger. And more robust, grid, fins made, from forged, titanium and. Left unpainted, were, first tested, in June 2017. And has been used on all reusable. Block 5 Falken nine first stages, since, May 2018. Throttle. Able rocket, engine, technology. Is required, to reduce engine, thrust, because the full thrust of even a single merlin, 1d engine. Exceeds, the weight of the nearly empty Falcon. 9 booster, core. Terminal. Guidance, and landing, capability. Including. A vehicle, control, system, and the control system. Software algorithm. To be able to land a rocket with the thrust to weight ratio of. The vehicle, greater than one with closed-loop, thrust, vector, and throttle, control. Navigation. Sensor, suite for precision, landing a. Large. Floating, landing, platform, in order to test pinpoint, landings, prior to receiving permission. From the US government to, bring returning, rocket stages into, US, airspace, over, land, in. The event, SpaceX. Built the autonomous. Spaceport, drone ship in 2014. And conducted. An initial, flight test and landing, attempt, in January, 2015.
Large. Surface. Area, thermal, protection, system. To absorb the heat load, of deceleration. Of the second-stage. From, orbital, velocity. To terminal, velocity. Lightweight. Deployable, landing. Gear for the booster, stage, in. May 2013, the. Design, was shown to be a nested, telescoping. Piston, on an a-frame, the. Total, span of the four carbon fiber aluminum. Extensible. Landing, legs is approximately. 18 metres 60. Feet and weigh less than 2100. Kilograms. 4,600. Pounds. Deployment. System, uses, high-pressure helium. As the working fluid with. Flight 25. It was announced that each landing, leg contained, a crush, core, to. Absorb, the impact of, landing, for particularly. Hard landings. Topic. Economics. Of rocketry, use. In, order, to make the Falcon, 9 reusable. And return to the launch site extra. Propellant, and landing, gear must be carried, on the first stage, requiring, around, a 30%. Reduction of, the maximum, payload to, orbit in, comparison. With the expendable. Falcon, 9, re. Flight of a previously, used stage, on a subsequent, flight, is dependent. On the condition, of the landed, stage and is a technique, that has seen little use outside, of the space shuttles, reusable. Solid rocket boosters. In. September. 2013. SpaceX. Said that if all aspects. Of the test program, was successful and. If a customer is interested, the first reef light of a falcon 9 booster. Stage could, happen as early as late 2014. In. December, 2015, following, the recovery, of the first stage, from, December, 22nd. Launch SpaceX. Projected. That the first reef light of a recovered, booster, would likely occur in 2016. But that the plan was to not reef light December. 22nd. Recovered, stage for, that purpose. Musk. Projected. In 2015. That the reef light step of the program, would be straightforward. Because. Of the multiple, full duration, firings. Of the engines, that had been done on the ground and the multiple, engine, restarts. That had been demonstrated by. That time with no significant. Degradation scene. In 2015. Industry, analysts, continued, to forecast, problems, that could prevent economic, reuse. Because costs. To refurbish, and relaunch the stage were not yet demonstrated and. The economic, case for reuse, would necessarily be, highly, dependent on launching, frequently. If SpaceX. Is successful. In developing the, reusable, technology, it is expected, to significantly reduce. The cost of access to space and, change the increasingly, competitive, market.
In Space launch services. Michael, Belfiore, wrote, in foreign, policy in 2013. That at a published, cost of fifty six point five million dollars, per launch to, low-earth orbit. Falken, nine Rockets, are already, the cheapest, in the industry. Reusable. Falken mines could, drop the price by an order, of magnitude, sparking. More space-based, enterprise. Which, in turn would drop the cost of access to space still. Further through, economies, of scale. Even. For military launchers, which, have a number of contractual. Requirements. For additional, launch services. To be provided, SpaceX's. Price is under 100. Million dollars. Space. Industry. Analyst, Ajay Qatari, has noted, that SpaceX, reusable. Technology could, do for space transport. What, jet engines, did, for air transportation. 60. Years ago when people never, imagined. That more than 500. Million passengers. Would travel, by airplanes, every, year and that the cost could be reduced, to the level it is all. Because. Of passenger. Volume, and reliable, reusability. SpaceX. Said in January 2014. That if they are successful in, developing the, reusable, technology launch. Prices. Of around $5. To seven million for, a reusable, Falcon. 9 were possible, and. Following. The successful, first, stage recovery, in December, 2015. Musk said that the, potential, cost reduction. Over the long term is probably, in excess of, a factor, of 100. As. Of, March 2014. Launch, service, providers. Who compete, with SpaceX, were not planning to develop, similar technology. Or offer competing. Reusable. Launcher, options. Neither. ILS. Which, markets, launchers, of the Russian, Proton rocket Arian. Space more sea launch were planning, on developing and, marketing reusable. Launch vehicle, services. SpaceX. Was the only competitor. That projected, a sufficiently, elastic, market, on the demand side to, justify, the costly, development. Of reusable, rocket, technology, and the expenditure. Of private, capital to develop, options for, that theoretical. Market, opportunity. As of, 2014. The Falcon, 9 v1. 1. Rocket was designed, with about 30%, more capacity, than its official, payload, specifications. The additional, performance, was reserved, for SpaceX. To perform, first stage reentry. And landing, tests, towards reusability. While, still achieving the, specified, orbital, payload, delivery for, customers, in order to achieve the full economic, benefit, of the reusable, technology it, is necessary. That the reuse be both rapid, and complete without the long and costly refurbishment. Period, or partially, reusable design. That plagued earlier, attempts, at reusable, launch vehicles. SpaceX. Has been explicit. That the huge potential, to open up spaceflight, is dependent. On achieving, both complete, and rapid reusability. CEO. Musk, stated. In 2014. That success, with the technology. Developed, effort, could reduce the cost of spaceflight by, a factor, of 100, because, the cost of the propellant, oxidizer. On the Falcon, 9 is only, 0.3%. Of, the total, cost of the vehicle separate. From the market, competition, brought about by SpaceX. Lower launch prices. And the potential, future of even more radically. Lower launch prices. If the technology, can be completed, successfully. Aviation. Week said, in 2014, that, SpaceX, reusable. Launched work is an R&D, model, the audacity of the concept, and speed of the program's, progress. Make it an exemplar, the breakneck pace of, development has, been almost Apollo like in its execution. Even while success. Is far from guaranteed on, March 9th 2016. SpaceX, president, Gwynne Shotwell gave. A more realistic appraisal, of the potential, savings of, a reused, launch now that attempts, to reuse, the second stage had, been abandoned, due to cost and weight issues, she. Said at 1 million dollars cost. Of refueling, and three million dollars cost of refurbishing. A used first stage could, potentially, allow launch, to be priced as low as 40, million dollars, a 30%.
Saving. SpaceX. Biggest, customer, ses, said it wants to be the first to ride a reused, vehicle, however it wants a launch price of 30 million dollars, or a 50, percent saving, to offset, the risk of pioneering, the process, according. To Elon, Musk almost, every piece of the falcon should be reused, over 100. Times, heat. Shields, and a few other items should, be reused, over ten times before, replacement. In. March, 2017. SpaceX. Announced progress. In their experiments. To recover and eventually. Reuse, the six million dollar payload, fairing, on the. SES, 10 mission, one of the fairing, halves performed. A controlled, atmospheric. Reentry and, splashdown. Using, thrusters and, a steerable, parachute. Fairings. Are eventually slated. To land on a floating, bouncy. Castle. Structure, SpaceX. Began, re flight of previously. Launched, booster, stages, in 2017. The first. Re flight was accomplished, in March 2017. Nearly, a year after the boosters, maiden, flight the second, was in June, 2017. Only, five months after, its maiden flight. Both. Were successful. And both insurers. And launch service, customers. Are readily supporting. The newly emerging market. In launch services. Provided. By multiple, use boosters. Topic. Technical. Feasibility. Prior, to the reusability, programs. Success, in December, 2015, the return, of an orbital, launch system, booster, rocket, had never been accomplished, and many questioned, both technical. And economic feasibility, and. Even. After this success, the rapid reuse of a rocket has not been attempted. Developing. A reusable rocket is. Extremely. Challenging, due to the small percentage, of a rockets mass that can make it to orbit. Typically. A rockets payload, is only about three percent of the mass of the rocket which is also roughly, the amount of mass in fuel that is required, for the vehicles reentry. Elon Musk said at the beginning of the program that he believed the return vertical. Landing, and recovery was, possible because the SpaceX, manufacturing. Methodologies. Result, in a rocket, efficiency. Exceeding, the typical, three percent margin, a. SpaceX. Rocket operating. In the reusable. Configuration. Has approximately 30%. Less. Payload, lift capacity than, the same rocket in an expendable. Configuration. Although the reusable, launch system, technology. Was developed and, initially, used for the first stages of the Falcon, family, of rockets it is particularly, well-suited to, the Falcon, Heavy where, the two outer calls, separate, from the rocket earlier in the flight and are therefore moving, more slowly at stage separation. For. Example, on Falcon, 9 flight 20. The speed at separation, was, close to 6,000. Km/h. And this allowed a return, to near the launch site, on, flight. 22, going. To a more energetic GTO. Orbit the, higher velocity. At separation, was, between 8,000. And 9,000. Kilometers per. Hour, at. These faster, speeds it is not possible, to return the booster, to near the launch site for a landing, if a landing, is attempted, it needs to be hundreds, of kilometers, downrange, on an autonomous, drone ship. Topic. Test, program. In, 2013. SpaceX. Was testing, reusable. Technologies. Both for its first stage booster launch, vehicle, designs, with three test vehicles. Grasshopper. F9r, dev, 1 and f9r. Dev 2 and for. Its new reusable. Dragon, v2 space, capsule, with a low altitude test. Vehicle, called dragonfly. SpaceX. Has publicly, disclosed. A multi element incremental.
Test Program, for booster, stages that, includes, four aspects. Low. Altitude. Less than. 760, meters. 2500. Feet low, velocity. Testing, of its single, engine grasshopper. Technology. Demonstrator. At its Texas, Test Site. Low. Altitude. Less than 3,000, meters. 9,800. Feet low, velocity. Testing, of a much larger, second-generation. 3. Engine, test vehicle, called f9r dev, 1, the. Second generation vehicle. Includes, extensible. Landing, legs and will be tested, at the Texas Test Site, high. Altitude. Mid velocity, testing, was planned but cancelled, in favour of post mission reentry, tests, of first-stage, boosters. It. Would have used f9r. Dev 2 at a SpaceX, leased facility. At spaceport. America in, new mexico. High, altitude, 91. Kilometers. High. Velocity. Approximately. 2.0. Km/s. 6,500. Km/h. 4,100. Miles per, hour mac 6 ballistic. Reentry, controlled. Deceleration. And controlled, descent tests. Of post-mission spent. Falken, 9 booster, stages following. A subset, of Falcon, 9 launches. That began in 2013, eight, low, altitude, booster, flight tests, were made by grasshopper. In 2012. And 2013. The first booster returned, controlled-descent. Test, from high altitude. Was made in September 2013. With. A second, test in April a, third. Test flight in July and, the. Fourth test in September. 2014. All. Four, test flights to date were intended, to be over water simulated. Landings. Five. Low altitude. Booster, flight tests, of f9r, dev 1 were flown during, April August, 2014. Before. The vehicle self destructed. For safety, reasons, on the fifth flight. Topic. Flight, test, vehicles. SpaceX. Used, a set of experimental. Technology. Demonstrator. Suborbital. Reusable launch. Vehicles. Rlv, to begin flight testing, their reusable, booster. Technologies. In 2012. Two. Versions, of the prototype, reusable. Test Rockets were built the. One hundred and six foot tall grasshopper. Formerly, designated as. Grasshopper. V 1.0. And the, 160. Foot tall Falcon, 9 reusable. Development, vehicle or f9r Dev, one formerly. Known as grasshopper. V 1.1. As well, as a capsule, prototype. For testing, propulsive, landings, of the Dragon crew and cargo capsule, for, the Falcon, 9, dragonfly. Grasshopper. Was built in 2011-2012. For. Low altitude low. Velocity. Hover testing, that began in September. 2012, and, concluded in, October, 2013, after. A test, flights. The. Second, prototype vehicle. Design, f9r. Dev 1 was built on the much larger Falcon. 9 V 1.1. Booster, stage was, used to further extend the low altitude flight. Testing, envelope, on a vehicle, that better matched the actual, flight hardware and. Made five test flights in 2014. The. Low-altitude, low-speed. Flights. Of the test vehicle rockets, and capsule, were conducted. At the SpaceX. Rocket test, facility, in McGregor, Texas, SpaceX. Indicated. In November, 2018, that they considered, testing, a heavily, modified Falcon. 9 second, stage that would look like a mini. Bfr, ship, and be. Used for atmospheric. Reentry testing. Of a number of technologies. Needed, for the full-scale space ship including. An ultralight, heat shield and high Mac control, surfaces. But two weeks later musk, dismissed, the approach in favor of using a full diameter BF, R instead. Topic. Grasshopper. Grasshopper. The company's, first VTV, l test vehicle, consisted. Of a falcon, 9 v 1.0. First stage tank, a single, merlin 1d engine. And four permanently. Attached, steel, landing, legs, it. Stood, 106. Feet 32. Metres tall. SpaceX. Built, a 0.5. Acre. 0.2. Ou hectares. Concrete. Launch facility. At its rocket, development and, test facility, in McGregor, Texas, to, support, the grasshopper. Flight test program. Grasshopper.
Was Also, known as grasshopper. Version, 1.0. Or grasshopper. V 1.0. Prior, to 2014. During the time the following grasshopper. Class test vehicles, were being built. In. Addition, to three test flights in 2012. Five additional, tests, were successfully. Flown by the end of October, 2013. Including. The fourth test overall, in March 2013. In. Which grasshopper. Doubled, its highest, leap to rise to 80 point, one meters. 263. Feet with a 34. Second, flight in. The seventh test in August, 2013, the, vehicle, flew to, 250. Metres. 820. Feet during. A 60 second flight and executed. A 100. Meter, 330. Feet, lateral, maneuver before, returning, to the pad. Grasshopper. Made its eighth and final test, flight on October. 7 2013. Flying, to. 744. Meters. 2441. Feet. 0.46. Miles before, making, its eighth successful. Landing, the. Grasshopper. Test vehicle, is now retired. Topic. Falken, nine reusable. Development. Vehicle. As early. As October 2012. SpaceX, discussed, development. Of a second-generation. Grasshopper. Test vehicle, which was to have lighter landing, legs that fold up on the side of the rocket a different, engine bay and would be nearly 50%, longer than the first grasshopper. Vehicle, in. March 2013. SpaceX. Announced that the larger, grasshopper. Class suborbital. Flight vehicle, would be constructed out, of the Falcon, 9 v 1.1. First stage tank, that was used for qualification. Testing, at the SpaceX. Rocket development. And test facility. In early 2013. It. Was rebuilt, as the f9r, dev, one with extensible. Landing, legs. Five. Test, flights occurred, in 2014. The second, VTV L flight, test vehicle. F9r. Dev one built on the much longer Falken, 9 v 1.1. First stage tank, with retractable, landing legs, made. Its first test flight on april, 17, 2014. F9. Our dev 1 was used for low altitude test. Flights in the McGregor Texas. Area. Projected. Maximum, altitude below. 3,000. Meters 10,000. Feet with. A total, of 5 test flights all made, during 2014. This. Vehicle. Self-destructed. As a safety, measure during, its fifth test flight on August, 22nd. 2014, by. April, 2014. A third flight test vehicle. F9r. Dev, 2 was. Being built and was planned to be flown at the high altitude, test range available at, spaceport. America in, new mexico where, it was expected, to be flown at altitudes. Up to 90, 1,000, meters. 300,000. Feet plus, it. Was never flown, as SpaceX, moved, the high altitude, testing, program, to its controlled, descent testing. Of views boosters, following, their use on a paid orbital, launch and ascent. You. Topic. Dragonfly. Dragonfly. Was a prototype, test, article, for a propulsively. Landed, version, of the SpaceX, Dragon capsule a suborbital, reusable launch. Vehicle, rlv, intended. For low altitude flight. Testing, as of. May 2014. It, was planned to undergo, a test, program in Texas at the McGregor, rocket, test facility. During. 2014-2015, the, Dragonfly, test vehicle, is powered by eight super, Draco engines. Arranged. In a redundant, pattern, to support, fault tolerance, in the propulsion system, design. Super. Draco's utilize. A storable. Propellants Chur. Of monomethylhydrazine. Mmh. Fuel, and nitrogen, tetroxide, oxidizer. Nto. The same propellants. Used in the much smaller Draco. Thrusters used. For attitude control and. Maneuvering, on the first generation Dragon. Spacecraft. While. Super, Draco engines, are capable, of, 73,000. Newtons. 16400. Lbf, of thrust during. Use on dragon fly flight, test vehicle each, will be throttled to less than, 68,000. 170. Newtons, 15,000. 325. Lbf. To maintain, vehicle, stability, a test, flight program, of 30 flights was proposed, in. 2013-2014. Including. Two propulsive. Assist, parachutes. Plus thrusters, and two propulsive, landing no, parachutes, on flights, dropped, from a helicopter, at an altitude of, approximately, 3,000. Meters 10,000. Feet, the. Other 26. Test flights were projected. To take off from a pad 8 to be propulsive. Assist, hops landing. With parachutes. Plus thrusters, and 18, to be full propulsive. Hops similar, to the grasshopper. And f9 our dev booster, stage test, flights as. Of. 2014. The, dragon fly test program, was not expected. To start until, after the completion, of the f9r dev, one booster testing. At the McGregor, facility. You. Topic. Starship. Hopper. In, November. 2018. SpaceX. Announced that an initial, bfr, dev ship, was. Under development to, test landings, of the nine meter 30, feet, diameter, ship. Design, at the SpaceX, South Texas launch, site. Soon. Renamed, starship. The company, revealed that while it had long planned construct. The ship of carbon, fiber composites. The vehicle, would be metal. Specifically. Of stainless steel for both the structure, and tank construction due. To superior, strength, to mass ratio across. The anticipated. Temperature. Ranges, that the orbital, ship would encounter from, cryogenic. To the high temperatures. Of atmospheric. Reentry. In late December musk. Unveiled, that the first test article, starship. Had been under construction, in South Texas for, several weeks out in the open on SpaceX, property.
The. Hopper. Was. Being built from the ground up of sheets and stainless, steel and, would be flown on the initial, test flights to characterize, the vehicle, and develop, the landing, and low altitude low. Velocity. Re-entry, control, algorithms. The. Initial, vehicle, will fly with only three of the seven possible Raptor. Methyl arcs engines, installed, and the initial, flight is expected. No earlier than the first half of 2019. Although, several previous. Statements. Had indicated, SpaceX. Was targeting, late 2019. For the initial, flights. Topic. Falken. 9 booster. Post-mission, flight, tests. In, an arrangement, highly. Unusual for. Launch vehicles. SpaceX, began, in 2013. Using some, first stages, of the Falcon, 9 V 1.1. Rockets, for propulsive, return controlled, descent flight, tests, after they completed, the boost phase of an orbital, flight. Since. The advent of, space flight in, 1957. Launch vehicle. Boosters, would ordinarily just be, discarded. After setting the payloads, on their way the. Over water tests, started, by SpaceX, took place in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. South of Vandenberg, Air Force Base, and, east of Cape Canaveral, Air Force Station. The. First flight test occurred, on September. 29, 2013. After, the second, stage with the cassiopi. And nano sat payloads, separated. From the booster, these. Descent, and simulated, landing, tests, continued, over the next two years with, the second, flight test taking, place on April 18 2014. Two, more tests in 2014. And four, subsequent, tests. Conducted in, 2015. Spacex. Continued. To make iterative, and incremental changes. To the booster, design, as well as the specific reusable. Technologies. Descent, profile, and propellant, margins, on some, 2016. To 2018, Falcon. 9 and Falcon. Heavy fights, to tweak the design and, operational. Parameters. Many. Of these descent, and landing tests. Were tested, on active, orbital, spaceflight missions, for, SpaceX, customers. As the booster, re-entered, the atmosphere and. Attempted, recoverable. Landings. Topic. Re-entry. And controlled-descent. Development. Following. Analysis, of the flight test data from, the first booster controlled. Descent in, September, 2013. SpaceX. Announced it had successfully, tested a, large amount, of new technology. On the flight and that coupled, with the technology. Advancements, made on the grasshopper, low altitude. Landing, demonstrator. They were ready to test a full recovery, of the booster, stage, the. First flight test was successful, spacex, said it was able. To successfully, transition, from. Vacuum, through, hypersonic. Through, supersonic. Through transonic. And light the engines, all the way and controlled, the stage all, the way through, the atmosphere. Musk. Said, the, next attempt, to recovery, SiC, the Falcon, 9 first, stage, will, be on the fourth flight of the upgraded. Rocket. This. Would be the third commercial. Dragon, cargo flight, to ISS. This. Second, flight test took place during, the April, 2014, dragon, flight to the ISS. Spacex, attached, landing, legs to the first stage, decelerated. It over the ocean, and attempted, a simulated, landing, over the water following, the ignition, of the second, stage on the third cargo, resupply mission. Contracted. To NASA the. First stage, was successfully. Slowed down enough for a soft landing over. The Atlantic, Ocean. SpaceX. Announced, in February, 2014, the intent, to continue the tests, to land the first stage booster in the ocean, until precision. Control, from hypersonic. All the way through subsonic. Regimes, has, been proven. 5. Additional controlled. Descent tests. Were conducted in, the remainder, of 2014. Through April, 2015. Including. Two attempts, to land on a floating, landing, platform, a SpaceX. Built autonomous. Spaceport. Drone ship on the. Atlantic, Ocean east of the launch site both of which brought the vehicle, to the landing, platform but, neither of which, salted, in a successful. Landing. Topic. First, landing. On ground, pad. During. The 2015, launch, hiatus. SpaceX. Requested.
Regulatory. Approval, from the FAA to attempt, returning, their next flight to Cape, Canaveral, instead, of targeting a floating, platform, in the ocean, the. Goal was to land the booster, vertically. At the least landing, zone one facility. The, former launch complex. 13, where SpaceX. Had recently, built a large rocket, landing, pad. The. FAA approved. The safety, plan for the ground landing on December, 18, 2015. The. First stage landed, successfully on, target. At 2038. Local, time on December, 21st. 138. Coordinated. Universal. Time on December. 22nd. First stage, booster b101. Nine never flew again after, the fight, rather. The, rocket, was moved a few miles north to the SpaceX, hangar facilities, at launch pad 39a. Recently. Refurbished, by, SpaceX. At the adjacent, Kennedy, Space Center, where it was inspected, before being used on January, 15th, 2016. To conduct a static, fire test on its original, launch pad launch, complex, 40, this. Test aimed to assess the health of the recovered, booster, and the capability. Of this rocket, designed, to fly repeatedly. In the future, the. Tests, delivered, good overall results. Except, for one of the outer engines. Experiencing. Thrust fluctuations. Elon. Musk reported. That this may have been due, to debris ingestion. The booster, was then retired, to the SpaceX, facility, in Hawthorne, California. Topic. Near-misses on the oceans. Falcon. 9 flight 21. Launched, the jason-3, satellite. On January, 17th. 2016. And, attempted. To land on the floating platform, just read the instructions. Located for, the first time about 200. Miles. 320. Kilometers, out in, the Pacific, Ocean. Approximately. Nine minutes, into the flight the live video feed, from the drone ship, went down due to the losing, its lock on the uplink satellite. The. Vehicle, landed, smoothly onto the vessel but one of the four landing, legs failed, to lock properly reportedly. Due to ice from the heavy pre-launch, fog preventing, a lockout collet from latching. Consequently. The booster, fell over shortly, after touchdown, and was destroyed, in a digression upon, impact with the pad flight, 22, was carrying, a heavy payload, of 5,000. 271. Kilograms. 12,000. Pounds, to geostationary. Transfer orbit. Geto. This. Was heavier than previously, advertised. Maximum. Lift capacity to. GTO being made possible by, going, slightly, sub-synchronous. Following. Delays caused, by failure, of flight 19, spacex, agreed, to provide extra, thrust to the SES, 9 satellite. To take its super synchronous, as a. Result. Of these factors, there was little propellant, left to execute a full reentry. And landing, tests with normal, margins. Consequently. The Falcon 9 first, stage, followed, a ballistic, trajectory, after separation. And re-entered, the atmosphere at. High velocity. Making, it less likely to land successfully. The. Atmospheric. Reentry and, controlled, descent was, successful. Despite, the higher, aerodynamical. Constraints. On the first stage due, to extra, speed. However. The rocket, was moving, too fast and was destroyed, when it collided, with the drone ship. Spacex, collected. Valuable, data on the extended, flight envelope, required, to, the boosters, from GTO, missions. Topic. Landings. At sea. Starting. In January 2015. SpaceX. Positioned stable, floating, platforms. A few hundred miles off the coast along the rocket trajectory, those transform. Barges. Were called autonomous, spaceport. Drone ships on, April. 8 2016. Falken, nine flight 23. The third flight of the full thrust version, delivered, the SpaceX, CRS, eight cargo, on its way to the International Space. Station while. The first stage, conducted. A boost back and re-entry, maneuver over. The Atlantic, Ocean, nine. Minutes after liftoff, the booster, landed, vertically, on the drone ship of course I still love you 300. Kilometers, from the Florida, coastline achieving. A long sought-after, milestone. For the SpaceX, reusability. Development. Program, a second, successful, drone, ship landing, occurred, on May 6, 2016.
With The next flight which launched JCS, a t14 2 GTO. This. Second, landing at sea was more difficult than, the previous, one because the booster, at separation. Was traveling, about eight thousand, 350. Km/h. 5,000. 190. Miles per hour compared, to six thousand, six hundred and fifty kilometers per, hour 4,000, 130. Miles, per hour on the CRS. 8 launch to low-earth orbit. Pursuing. Their experiments. To test the limits of the flight envelope SpaceX. Opted, for a shorter, landing burn, with three engines instead, of the single, engine burns, seen, in earlier attempts, this approach consumes, less fuel by leaving the stage in freefall as, long as possible and, decelerating. More sharply, thereby, minimizing. The amount of energy expended to counter, gravity. Elon. Musk indicated. This first stage, may not be flown again instead, being used as a life leader for, ground tests, to confirm others. Are good a third successful, landing. Followed, on the 27th. Of May again, following, deceleration. From the high speed required, for, a GT, Oh launch, the. Landing, crushed her crush. Core in. One leg leading, to a notable, tilts of the stage as it stood on the drone ship. Topic. Routine. Procedure. Over. The subsequent, missions landing. Of the first stage gradually. Became a routine, procedure and, since January, 2017. SpaceX. Ceased to refer to their landing attempt, sirs. Experimental. Low-energy. Missions. To the ISS fly. Back to the launch site and, land at LZ, 1 whereas, more demanding, satellite, missions, land on drone ships a few hundred miles downrange. Occasional. Missions, with heavy payloads, such as, echo star 23. Do not attempt to land flying, in expendable. Configuration. Without fins and legs. Further. Successful. Landings, occurred, on. The. LZ, one ground pad CRS. 9 on the 18th, of July 2016. CRS. 10 on the 19th, of February, 2017. N rol, 76. On the 1st of May CRS. 11, on the 3rd of June, CRS. 12 on the 14th, of August, Boeing x-37b. O TV 5 on the 7th of September. CRS. 13, on the 15th, of December, and Zuma, on the 8th of January, 2018, on. Drone. Ships JC, SAT, 16. On the 14th, of August, 2016. Iridium, next, one on the 14th, of January. 2017. SES. 10 on the 30th, of March and bu LGA our IAS, 81. On the 23rd. Of June 1st, and 2nd, recoveries, of reef loan boosters, iridium, next to on the 25th, of June fo, our MOS 85. On the 24th, of August, iridium next, three on the 9th of October, SES. 11, Ecostar. 105. On the 11th, of October and careers, our 5a, on the 30th, of October. 2017. Topic. Future. Tests. During. 2016. And 2017. SpaceX. Has recovered, a number of first stages, to both land and drone ships helping, them optimize, the procedures, needed to reuse, the boosters rapidly. In. January. 2016. Elon Musk estimated. The likelihood. Of success, at 70%. For all landing, attempts, in 2016. Hopefully, rising, to 90%. In 2017. He also cautioned. That we should expect, a few, more ru. D's. Rapid. Unscheduled. Disassembly. Musk's, euphemism. To denote destruction. Of the vehicle, on impact. Masks. Prediction. Was vindicated, as five, out of eight flown boosters. 63%, were recovered, in 2016. And 14, out of 14. 100%. In 2017. Three. GTO, missions, for heavy payloads, Ecostar, 23. In March, 2017. Inmarsat. 5f4. In may 2017. And int else at 35, e in july 2017. Were flown in an expendable. Configuration. Not equipped for landing, one.
Booster Which, could have been recovered, was intentionally. Flown without legs, and left to sink after a soft touchdown in the ocean booster, be 103, 6, for the iridium, next, 31 to 40, mission in December, 2017. Since. Late 2017. Incremental. Testing, with refinements. To the fairing, recovery, design, have been conducted. SpaceX. Has indicated. That they expected, to recover an intact fairing, in 2017. And to fly a recovered. Fairing, in 2018. As of. December, 2017. No official, information on, progress, in the fairing, recovery, process, was available. Topic. First-stage. Reuse. As of. The 6th of August 2018. SpaceX, had recovered 21. First-stage. Boosters. From previous, missions, of which six were recovered, twice yielding. A total, 27, landings. In. 2017. SpaceX, flew a total, of five missions, out of 20, with reused, boosters. 25%. In. Total, 14, boosters. Have been reflow, neurs of august 2018. On. July. 28. 2016. The, first stage, from, the JC SAT, to, be mission, was successfully. Test-fired, for, a full duration, at the SpaceX, McGregor facility. The. First reuse, attempt, occurred on the 30th, of March, 2017. With the launch of SES, 10 resulting. In a successful, flight and second, landing, of the be 102 one, first stage recovered. From the CRS, eight mission, of April, 2016. Another. Reef light succeeded. In June 2017. With B ulga, our IAS, 81. Riding, the be 102, nine booster, from the January, 2017. Iridium, next mission. Booster. Be 103, one, flew, the CRS. 10 mission, to the ISS in. February, 2017. And helped, loft communications. Satellite, SES, 11, to geostationary. Orbit, in October, 2017. Boosters. Be 103, five, and be 103, six, were flown twice each for the same customer, be 103, five, for, NASA missions, CRS. 11, and CRS, 13, in June and December, 2017. And be 103, 6 for two batches, of 10 iridium, next satellites, also in June and December, 2017. Be. 103, 2 was reused, for govt, s 81. In January, 2018, after. N rol 76. In May 2017. Finally. Be 102, 3 and be 102, 5 were reused, as side boosters on, the Falcon, Heavy test, flight in February, 20, 18. Spacex. Spent four months refurbishing. The first booster to, be reused, be 102 one and launched, it again after approximately. One year, the. Second, booster to, be flown again be 102, nine was, refurbished. In only, a couple, of months and. Relaunched. After, five months, Elon. Musk initially, stated a goal to turnaround the first stage within, 24, hours before, the end of 2017. Musk. Remains, convinced. That this goal can be met though SpaceX, is now targeting, 2019. To achieve it boosters, b101, 9 and B 1o to 1 were, retired, and put on display, be. 102, 9, was also, retired, after the bul, GA our IAS, 81. Mission, be. 102, 3, be 102, 5, be 103, 1, and be 103, 5, were recovered, a second, time while be 103 2, and be 103, 6, were deliberately, sunk at sea after a soft ocean touchdown. Topic. Block, five boosters. With. A streak, of seventeen successful. Recovery, attempts, of the first stage, throughout. 2017. SpaceX. Has focused. On rapid, reusability, of first-stage. Boosters. Block. Three and block four proved, economically. Feasible to, be flown twice as 11, such boosters, have been reflow, nin 2017. And 2018. Block. Five has been designed, with multiple reuses. In mind up to ten reuses, with minimal, inspection. And up to 100. Uses with refurbishment. New. Aggressive reentry. Profiles, were, experimented. With expendable. Block three and block four boosters, in early 2018, to, test out the limitations. On the range of recoverable, launch, margins. That are potential, for future block, 5. Topic. Ferenc, reuse. As early. As, mid-2015. Musk, hinted, that SpaceX, might be working on fairing, reusability, following. The discovery of wreckage, of an unidentified. Falken, 9 launch vehicle, section, of the coast of the Bahamas and, was subsequently, confirmed, by SpaceX, to be a component, of a payload, fairing, that had washed ashore. By. April, 2016. They had publicly, announced, Falcon, 9 fairing, recovery, as an objective. The. Cost of the fairing, is about six million dollars, each which accounts, for 10% of, the overall launch costs. In March, 2017. As part, of the SES 10 mission, SpaceX, for the first time performed, a controlled, landing of the payload, fairing, and successfully. Recovered, a fairing, half aided, by attitude, control. Thrusters and. The steerable, parachute, helping, it glide towards, a gentle, touchdown on water. The. Company, announced, intent, to land the fairings, eventually. On a dry flexible. Structure, jokingly, described. By musk as a floating. Bouncy. Castle. With. The aim of full, fairing, reuse. With. Successive, tests, and refinements. On several, flights intact. Fairing, recovery, was stated, as an objective for 2017. With reef light of a recovered, fairing, planned in 2018. The bouncy. Castle. Idea. Was superseded. By a net strung between large, arms, of a fast platform. Supply, vessel, named mr., Steven, the. Recovery, vessel is equipped, with dynamic. Positioning, systems, and was tested after, the launch of the Paz satellite, from Vandenberg, Air Force Base, in, that 2017. This. Mission, was also the first to use a version 2, fairing, explicitly.
Designed To improve. Survivability. For. Post launch recovery. Attempts. And to, be reusable. On future. Missions. This, recovery, attempt. Was not fully successful, the, fairing missed the boat by a few hundred meters but, landed, intact in the water before, being recovered, and taken back to port as of. August 2018. All four, attempts, by SpaceX. To land a fairing, on a recovery, ship have failed despite, fitting. Mr. Stephen with larger, nets before, the July 2018. Attempt. In October. 2018, at least to fairing, recovery, tests, were performed involving. Mr. Stephen, and a helicopter, which would drop a fairing, half from the height of about. 3,300. Meters, the. Actual, outcome, of the tests, is unclear. Topic. Second-stage. Reuse. Despite. Early public statements. That SpaceX, would endeavor to make the Falcon, 9 second, stage reusable. As well by late 2014. They, determined, that the mass needed, for a reentry, heatshield landing. Engines, and other equipment. To support recovery, of the second stage as well as the diversion. Of development. Resources, from other company, objectives was. At that time prohibitive. And indefinitely. Suspended. The second, stage reusability. Plans, for the Falcon rockets. However. In July, 2017. They indicated, that they might do experimental. Tests, on recovering, one or more second, stages, in order to learn more about reusability. To, inform, their new much larger VFR, launch vehicle, development process. And, in. May 2018. Provided. Additional, details, about how they might carry out some of that testing, the bfr is planned to replace all, existing. Spacex, launch and, space vehicles after, the mid-2020s. Falcon 9 Falcon, Heavy and the Dragon spacecraft aimed, initially. At the Earth orbit, launch market, but with capability. To support long-duration. Spaceflight, in the saloon, and Mars, mission, environments. Both. Stages, will, be fully, reusable, the. Integrated. Second, stage with spaceship, design, has not been used in previous launch vehicles. Topic. Operational. Flow. In the first year, of successful. Stage return, from the experimental, test, flights, SpaceX. Performed, ad hoc and flight specific. Evaluation and, component, testing, on each successfully. Landed, stage. Stages. Were processed, and initially, evaluated, in either launch hangars, or for, Cape Canaveral landings. In the new hangar SpaceX, recently. Completed at, Kennedy, Space Center launch. Complex. 39. Returned. Rocket, parts, have also been, transported. To SpaceX. Hawthorne, and SpaceX, McGregor, for engineering. Evaluation and. Testing. In. February. 2017. After, eight rocket, calls had successfully. Landed, seven. Of them having launched, from Cape Canaveral. SpaceX. Announced, plans to expand, their physical, facilities, to process, and refurbish, rockets. They. Will do so in both leased space and, in a new building, to be built in Port Canaveral Florida, near. The location, where the Atlantic, autonomous. Spaceport, drone ship is birthed and where stages, that land on the East Coast drone ship are now removed, from the ship. Topic. See, also. Blue, Origin new. Shepard a suborbital, VT, VL system.
2019-03-29 13:15
