[ad_1]
Completed on May 30, the latest SpaceX Falcon 9 booster collector broke several internal speed records, unofficially cataloged over the years by vigilant fans.
In short, while the company's experienced recovery technicians continue to gain experience and become familiar with the Falcon 9 Block 5, the duration of the recall recovery has been consistent over the 12 months following Launch of Block 5. Already, the efficiency of recovery processing has reached the following point: once SpaceX optimizes Block 5's design for reuse without remodeling, there should be no logistical reason for the company not to can not make the same booster twice in about 24 to 48 hours.
The path of fast reusability
This will rarely make headlines, but the ultimate goal of SpaceX is not just to reuse Falcon 9 (and other) boosters, but with a level of routine efficiency close to that of modern passenger aircraft. It is reasonable to assume that chemical rockets may never reach these capabilities, but they could certainly be able to improve enough to radically change the relationship between man and space flight.
In the same spirit, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, decided years ago that an excellent representative goal for Falcon 9 would be to launch the same reminder twice in 24 hours. Over the last year or so, this largely arbitrary goal has changed a bit and is now believed to be a bit broader, with the goal of reusing the booster a few days after recovery. This is a pragmatic fit rather than a technical critique of Falcon 9.
In general, Falcon 9 simply does not have the performance needed to meet the periodic reuse times measured in hours. The majority of SpaceX launches require sufficient Falcon 9 performance to require recovery onboard one of SpaceX's two drones, typically posted at least 200-300 km (100-200 mi) off the coast. This alone alone almost kills any chance of reuse of boosters within 24 hours, as the process of towing the drone carrying boosters to the port takes place at a maximum speed of approximately 15 km / h. Getting permission to enter the harbor itself often involves a wait of more than 6 hours a few kilometers offshore.
Falcon 9 missions in low orbit and reduced mass are much more promising for extremely rapid reuse, as the landing zones on the west and east coast of SpaceX are only a few kilometers away (or less than 1,500 feet in the case of the LZ-4) of their launching ramps and corresponding processing facilities. However, these missions are rather rare, while Starlink launches of LEX (SpaceOx) in a low Earth orbit will likely involve payloads so heavy that it will be necessary to recover drone ships at great distances.
Finally, there are the Falcon Heavy launches, most of which will allow reinforcements from both sides to return to the Florida coast for landings at LZ-1 / LZ-2. However, these are their own obstacles to rapid reuse, mainly because secondary boosters, although technically just Falcon 9 boosters, would need major modifications to support the launch of the single-stack Falcon 9. . Falcon Heavy launches just will not happen over a period of 24 to 48 hours, so this option is also out of the question.
This means that SpaceX's only real option for quick and convenient reuse is to focus on a capacity closer to the weekly launch capability of Block 5 boosters, meaning that the same booster will launch, land, return on the ground and prepare for the next. launch in the same week. Even then, the readiness of the launch site can still hinder radical improvements in booster reuse and launch frequency. After each launch, SpaceX's pads and transporters / builders are severely defeated, requiring regular repairs and maintenance before returning to flight preparation mode. Unless there are major improvements, SpaceX has demonstrated launch times of about 10 days. Reducing this figure from 50% to 90% will be a major challenge for a rocket as powerful as Falcon 9.
B1049 takes a step forward
Despite the many logistical reasons that Falcon 9 is unlikely to be used for routine reuse around the clock, this latent capacity would mean that the hardware is advanced enough to deliver that efficiency. Although SpaceX can not literally drive each booster to its operational capability, virtually unrepaired reflections will result in a significant reduction in launch costs. Modern civil aircraft do not have to fly every second of the day to stay affordable (excluding depreciation costs).
In the end, SpaceX has taken small steps in this direction since the company started recovering (and reusing) Falcon 9 boosters. The third round of the Falcon 9 B1049 was one of the best (and the most records) never made, but these records just broken The most significant statistic that emerges from the Post-Starlink Recovery v0.9 is that B1049.3 took less than 30 hours to go from docking to port horizontally on a SpaceX recall transporter. The previous record holder was Falcon 9 B1046.2, requiring around 40 hours for the same feat. B1049.3 also holds the record for the fastest recovery in total – only 48 hours of transportation to a SpaceX hangar – but beats B1051 by about half an hour. In general, the Falcon 9 Block 5 has been made aware of many fast recovery operations and the B1049 is only the latest in a long line of reusable SpaceX rockets.
Check Teslarati newsletters for quick updates, on-the-ground perspectives and a unique insight into SpaceX rocket launch and recovery processes
[ad_2]
Source link