What's up with SpaceX and all these Big Falcon Rocket changes?

SpaceX and Elon Musk have been making headlines in recent days, both because of financial news and reflections from the founder of the rocket company on Twitter regarding his current obsession with space – the Big Falcon Rocket or BFR. There has been a lot to do, so here is our best attempt to understand what Musk said and what it might really mean. Musk began announcing the news of SpaceX rocket design about two weeks ago. So we will start there.

Mini BFR Ship

Wednesday, November 7 Musk tweeted that the "The second leg of the Falcon 9 will be upgraded to look like a BFR mini-ship." He added that this improved second stage could be ready to fly by June 2019. This prompted a host of speculations that SpaceX could take steps to build the second stage of its Falcon 9 rocket. , the part of the thruster that currently inserts a payload into orbit, then burns off during re-integration into the earth's atmosphere – fully reusable.

However, this should not be the case. Later, Musk said that this "upgraded BFR mini-ship" would essentially be a small test version of the Big Falcon spacecraft, the spacecraft destined to fly over the Big Falcon Rocket booster. Currently, he added, the company can not test features such as "ultra-light heat shield" and "high-Mach control surfaces" without performing orbital re-entry. The company is still planning to build a Big Falcon spacecraft for supersonic reentry and landing tests at SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas facility. It is unclear how many missions the BFR mini-ship will perform.

The second step of the Falcon 9 will not be improved

Saturday, November 17, Musk had more words say on the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket. Separated from the development of the BFR mini-ship as a test vehicle, SpaceX would not improve the second stage for operational missions. "SpaceX no longer plans to upgrade Falcon 9's second floor to reuse it," he said.

This is quite significant, since Musk had in the past considered making the entire Falcon 9 rocket reusable: the first stage (which is already the case), the second stage and the payload fairing ( tests are underway to recover them with the Mr. Steven ocean vessel). This is the key to bringing the price of an orbital launch to a few million dollars, said Musk. However, SpaceX has now abandoned this effort to make the entire Falcon 9 rocket reusable, and Musk quickly explained why.

Another change in BFR design

in the same tweet announcing the end of efforts to make the second floor of the Falcon 9 reusable, Musk added: "Speed ​​up BFRs instead, a new design is very exciting!" Deliciously counterintuitive. Later, Clarified Musk that this new design represented a "radical change".

It was important, if only because the design of the BFR had changed so much. There was the bold initial version that he presented in 2016, then a slightly more modest version in 2017. Then there was the "Tintin ship" that he unveiled just in September. A few months later, the big rocket and / or the spaceship again underwent a radical change.

What we know about Musk and his team of engineers is that they shine in the design and construction of rockets. However, it is unclear what motivates design changes: better performance or the need to save on development costs.

Speaking of funding

Various reports have reported that SpaceX has applied for a loan of $ 500 million or $ 750 million. (The reason the funds were needed was not entirely clear, but it is likely the development of the BFR and / or Starlink Internet satellite system). On Monday, Bloomberg announced that the loan application had been reduced to $ 250 million. Apparently, if SpaceX was looking for a higher loan amount, investors would have liked stricter lending terms.

Notably, the article also states that the company has announced positive earnings to investors with respect to the information provided, but that these earnings were before interest, taxes, depreciation and other factors. If SpaceX had not included customer prepayments and excluded certain search costs, its revenues would have been negative, Bloomberg said.

Since SpaceX is a private company, it is not possible to control the finances of the company. However, given its payroll of more than 7,000 people, it is reasonable to assume that with 20 launches a year, the company reaches more or less the breakeven point.

This raises familiar (and essential) questions about how the company will finance the development of WCR, estimated by Mr Musk at between $ 2 billion and $ 10 billion. To date, no government agency has shown interest in supporting the BFR. (In fact, the Ministry of Defense rejected it in October).

Change of name BFR

The Big Falcon Rocket, which has sometimes been known as the colonial colonial carrier and Mars interplanetary transport system, will still receive another name. Monday evening Musk tweeted that the components of the BFR will now be called "Super Heavy" (that's the booster) and "Starship" (that's the second floor and the spaceship).

A Twitter user it is noted in response to Musk, "Unless this" spacecraft "is sent on a mission to another star system, it can not be called a spaceship."

Musk replied, "Later versions will be."

Last thoughts

What we absolutely love about SpaceX and its founder, is that they dream big. For too long, our spaceflight business has evolved as molasses when it comes to human beings. Then a company like SpaceX comes in and makes things happen.

In truth, we still have doubts about the BFR because it is a really ambitious vehicle. Without a government sponsor for the BFR (Oops, we mean Super Heavy and Starship), SpaceX may be struggling to get the funding needed to build the rocket and spacecraft. Ongoing design and name changes do not exactly give us confidence in the stability of the project. He suggests that Musk always seeks to find the ideal trade-off between performance, profitability and a product that he can sell to customers, investors and the government.

For the sake of humanity, we hope that it will succeed.