SpaceX fails little in comparison to its success

A SpaceX Falcon 9 takes off from Space Launch Complex 40 of Cape Canaveral. Photo: Mike Deep / SpaceFlight Insider

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – 2018 is the most important year in SpaceX history. However, this success has not always been guaranteed since the company experienced two major failures between 2015 and 2016, which cost millions to US customers and taxpayers. However, these losses must be weighed with the innovations and the pace of launch that have become the hallmark of the company's activities.

If all goes as planned in 2018, the company could end up launching two dozen rockets on behalf of their many customers. This already includes the inaugural flight of the huge Falcon Heavy, several Dragon supply missions to the International Space Station and, if the schedule is respected, the first unmanned flight of the company's Crew Dragon during the first demonstration test. NASA's commercial program (Demo-1).

The year 2018 was also marked by the launch of the Block 5 version of the Falcon 9, which made possible the recovery of the first recovered bearings more profitable with a fast turnaround time between launches. This is something that has made the company attractive to more customers and has further increased the company's launch manifesto.

Reliability in question

We can see the remains of the Falcon 9 and the strong back to the SLC-40 smoldering in this picture. Photo Credit: Carleton Bailie / SpaceFlight Insider

Two years ago, on September 1, 2016, the reliability of the company was questioned after a massive explosion around a Falcon 9 rocket before a seemingly banal pre-launch test at Spatial Launch Complex 40 of Cape Canaveral Air Base. As the company fueled the rocket – with the $ 184 million Amos 6 satellite encapsulated on top – the friction between the layers of a helium-filled composite pressure vessel (COPV) in the second stage of the vehicle probably sparked oxygen and caused a cascade failure that destroyed both the rocket and the payload of the customer.

The test was supposed to result in a shot of several seconds of the first nine Merlin 1D engines of the vehicle 229 feet (70 meters) high before a scheduled cut. The rocket had to remain firmly on the ground, have the engine performance evaluated, and be launched a few days later. The massive explosion also destroyed the conveyor element that was carrying the vehicle and many facilities on the cushion itself.

It was a failure that prompted many months of investigation to find the ultimate cause, which the CEO of the company, Elon Musk, described as "the most difficult and complex failure we have seen in 14 years ".

Less than 14 months earlier, on June 28, 2015, another large-scale event cost US taxpayers millions of dollars. It was the unfortunate mission of CRS-7 on the ISS. A little more than two minutes after the start of the flight to send a Dragon capsule to the outpost in orbit, the second stage of the rocket broke, causing the destruction of the vehicle.

The CRS-7 accident also involved the COPV, but not directly. In this case, a faulty strut retaining the bottle on the flank of the second floor failed. This caused the ship to climb to the top of the vehicle, breaking the tank.

Return to flight by making history

The first leg of the Falcon 9 hit the ground about nine minutes after the launch of the SLC-40 rocket. Photo credit: SpaceX

In both cases, the company solved the problem and quickly took over the rockets in less than six months. In the case of the first return flight, the company did something that no other company or rocket organization had done: return an orbital class first-stage rocket to the launch area after a mission .

The success of the Orbcomm OG-2 mission of December 2015 and the delivery of its 11 satellites may have been the main objective, but the secondary landing goal has been one of all. The first leg was at Canaveral Landing Zone 1 after the rocket had sent its payload.

Since then, SpaceX has successfully landed 28 times. This includes the feat of landing not one – but first two steps to a few seconds apart. The dual power landing followed the launch of the Falcon Heavy triple core in February 2018.

Reuse has been the goal of the SpaceX Falcon rocket family since launchers were created. With the launch of the Block 5 variant of the vehicle, the company is getting closer and closer to the "fast" part of the equation.

Block 5 is supposed to be able to be launched at least 10 times with a minimal refurbishment (previous versions were launched twice only with a refurbishment) and a hundred times with a refurbishment. About three people have passed between the first block 5, May 11, 2018, and August 7. Although this is not quite the company's 72-day record, this period included an assessment of the effects of its first flight.

Musk said SpaceX hoped to demonstrate a 24-hour launch for the same rocket in 2019.

SpaceX and its engineers have not only repelled the boosters on the first floor, but they have also worked and succeeded in refounding its Cargo Dragon capsule. Since 2010, the company has launched a Dragon in Space 17 times with a single incident (CRS-7). However, starting with CRS-11 in June 2017, refurbished capsules were used. The latest new Dragon was sent in the dark during the CRS-12 mission to the ISS.

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida after the completion of its mission. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian / SpaceFlight Insider

To date, four flights of the Dragon Company to the station have used capsules already stolen with at least one vehicle requiring only the replacement of its heat shield, its trunk and its parachutes before being sent again in the sky of the Sunshine State.

It is unclear whether the company plans to use these capsules more than twice. However, a variant of the Crew Dragon, intended solely for freight, is also planned and will probably take the role of SpaceX supply tracks towards the outpost once operational.

The first flights with astronauts on the Crew Dragon are expected in early 2019. With the CST-100 Starliner Boeing, it should allow the United States to launch astronauts on US soil.

With all the development of spacecraft and reusable rockets, SpaceX continues to maintain its high and long-promised launch rate. As of September 5, 2018, SpaceX had launched 61 members of the Falcon 9 rocket family since its debut in 2010. Over 50% of these rockets have occurred over the last 20 months.

In addition, the price announced by the company on its website from 2018 for a Falcon 9 is $ 62 million and a Falcon Heavy is $ 90 million, even if this rate drops for wholesale customers . Time.

In comparison, SpaceX's closest competitor, the United Launch Alliance, estimates its Atlas V rockets at around $ 100 million. This price will vary depending on the size of the required variant and the necessary orbit.

Customers are flocking to SpaceX because of the company's low rates and with these launches, the Hawthorne, CA-based company is using the missions to further innovate.

Although more expensive, ULA markets its rockets with a success rate of 100% (since the company's inception in 2006) and greater versatility. For example, while the 43,000-pound (3,000-pound) Bigelow Aerospace B330 space station is in the lifting capacity of a consumable Falcon 9, the 13.1-meter fairing of the payload of the rocket is too small for the -meter) long module in its launch configuration. As such, it can only be launched with the largest configuration of an Atlas V, variant 551, with its payload fairing of 5.4 meters wide, five solid propellant propellants. and a single engine Centaur upper stage.

Make the Falcon 9 and the Dragon obsolete

However, even that could change because SpaceX is developing an even bigger rocket called Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR. Musk described this 106-meter high launcher as a fully reusable two-stage rocket.

BFR is the size of the Saturn V Moon rocket that flew in the 1960s and 1970s. BFR could be launched as early as 2022 (although this schedule is considered optimistic). SpaceX is already developing Raptor engines to lift the vehicle. A construction site in the Port of Los Angeles has been selected with the manufacture of the first prototype planned for next year (2019).

When he launches, and if he succeeds, Musk said the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsules would be obsolete. Although its main goal is to facilitate the colonization of Mars, it should also be transformed into a rocket capable of sending objects into low Earth orbit or even into the Moon.

Tagged: Big Falcon Rocket Crew Dragon Dragon Elon Musk Falcon 9 SpaceX Lead Stories

Derek Richardson

Derek Richardson has a degree in media, including contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. While he was in Washburn, he was editor of the student newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also has a blog on the International Space Station called Orbital Velocity. He met with members of the SpaceFlight Insider team during the flight of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket with the MUOS-4 satellite. Richardson joined our team soon after.

His passion for space ignited when he saw Space Shuttle Discovery launch into space on October 29, 1998. Today, this fervor has accelerated to the orbit and shows no signs slowdown. After studying mathematics and engineering at the university, he quickly realized that his true calling was to communicate with others about the space. Since joining SpaceFlight Insider in 2015, Richardson has worked to improve the quality of our content, eventually becoming our editor. @TheSpaceWriter