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posted by martyb on Wednesday March 29 2017, @04:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the here-we-go-again! dept.

http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/28/15071288/spacex-launch-recycled-falcon-9-rocket-landing-schedule

On Thursday, SpaceX is set to launch yet another satellite into orbit from the Florida coast — but this mission will be far from routine for the company. The Falcon 9 rocket that SpaceX is using for the launch has already flown before. Around the same time last year, it sent cargo to the International Space Station for NASA, and then came back to Earth to land upright on a floating drone ship at sea. This is the first time that SpaceX will attempt to reuse one of its rockets.

[...] In truth, only part of the Falcon 9 is being reused on this upcoming mission. After each launch, SpaceX tries to save just the first stage of its vehicles. That's the 14-story-tall main body of the Falcon 9 that contains the primary engines and most of the fuel.

[...] Not only is this Falcon 9 rocket launching for a second time, but it's landing again, too. The first stage will attempt another drone ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean after takeoff, meaning this particular vehicle could see even more flight time in the future. It's still unclear just how many times a single first stage of a Falcon 9 can be used again. In the past, Musk has boasted that parts of the Falcon 9 could be reused up to 100 times, but he expects 10 to 20 reuses out of a single vehicle.

[...] It's not known just how much launching a used rocket saves the company, but SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell estimated that customers could see a price reduction of about 30 percent for launches that use landed rockets. (In October, however, she told Space News that SpaceX is only offering 10 percent discounts for the time being.) That means the Falcon 9, which starts at a little more than $60 million, could eventually go for $40 million if it's a reused vehicle.

[...] SpaceX performed a successful static fire test of the Falcon 9 engines on Monday, and right now, takeoff of SES-10 is scheduled for 6PM ET [2200 UTC] on Thursday from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. There's a two-and-a-half-hour launch window, so the Falcon 9 can conceivably take off anytime until 8:30PM ET [0030 UTC]. So far there's a 70 percent chance that weather conditions will be favorable, according [to] Patrick Air Force Base.

The Verge story says it will be updated 20 minutes before the scheduled launch to provide a live-stream of the launch.


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  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday March 30 2017, @03:48PM (2 children)

    by kaszz (4211) on Thursday March 30 2017, @03:48PM (#486532) Journal

    The big question is how Musk will get the next 10x cost reduction?

    10x - already accomplished?
    100x = Mars

    SLS = Senate Lunch System :p

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday March 30 2017, @05:26PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday March 30 2017, @05:26PM (#486615) Journal

    I think they have done a factor of 3x [npr.org] at best, not 10x, and that they don't need to get to 100x to make Mars attractive. $100/lb would be about a factor of 30x.

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    • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday March 30 2017, @05:36PM

      by kaszz (4211) on Thursday March 30 2017, @05:36PM (#486625) Journal

      But where will they make the next efficiency leap in cost per weight?