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SpaceX will attempt to launch five Falcon 9 rockets in April. This includes an International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission and a mission to launch Bangabandhu-1, Bangladesh's first satellite. The Bangabandhu-1 launch is planned to be the first to use SpaceX's Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, which may be the final major iteration of Falcon 9 before replacement by BFR.
At a South by Southwest (SXSW) panel, Elon Musk said that SpaceX could test the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) "spaceship" as soon as the first half of 2019. The spaceship is the second stage of the complete BFR rocket, would be capable of reaching orbit without the first stage booster, and alone has over 50% more thrust than an entire Falcon 9.
The initial tests would likely be similar to the Grasshopper vertical takeoff and landing tests.
Also at USA Today, MarketWatch, and SpaceNews.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday March 14 2018, @05:44PM (9 children)
> as soon as the first half of 2019
Mr Musk likes to set highly aggressive goals.
If that thing flies in 2019, that will already be pretty good.
I would not bet money I can't afford to lose, that it will fly before H2 2020
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:18PM (8 children)
BFS is the smaller part of the complete BFR, although it is very important since it will be landing and taking off from Mars and other destinations, and can reach orbit by itself.
Possibly the most important component, the Raptor rocket engine [wikipedia.org], has been in development for years and has been test firing lately.
The first tests of the BFS could be very rudimentary, such as taking off, flying a few hundred feet, and then landing. Later they will launch it suborbitally to test reentry + heat shields.
People cite previous missed deadlines like Falcon Heavy or crewed missions to the ISS. Falcon Heavy was dependent on an evolving Falcon 9. Crewed missions require SpaceX to convince NASA that the Falcon 9 + Dragon capsule are very safe.
SpaceX is now focusing on BFR [techcrunch.com] following the Falcon Heavy maiden launch. The Falcon 9 Block 5 development is just about finished as well, with the first one launching the Bangabandhu-1 as mentioned in the summary.
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(Score: 1) by Derf the on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:08PM
Once they land this first upcoming Falcon 9 Block 5 (on April 5) they still have a center booster et al of the Falcon Heavy Block 5 (in manifest for June 13) to land before I expect the full engineering team can be focused onto the BFG.
My guess, first BFG flight/hop Oct 2019.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:14PM (3 children)
Not disagreeing, because we all know that past performance (under different constraints) is no guarantee of future results.
But a project the scale of BFR has so many dependencies that it's pretty optimistic to think they may test such a major subsystem in barely 15 months.
It is rocket surgery. SpaceX has a blooper reel of learning moments, and they don't necessarily want to add too much to it, by rushing past reviews that would avoid fireworks.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:56PM (2 children)
You talk as though 15 months would be starting from scratch. They started working on the BFR years ago - at the very least the Raptor engines and composite oxygen tanks have already been built and tested, and I assume there's lots of other stuff they've built already as well, that didn't make for such impressive PR photos. It's quite possible that at this point they're pretty much down to assembling the parts and building the structural frame and shell. In which case 15 months to have finished assembly and static testing wouldn't seem all that ambitious.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday March 14 2018, @10:08PM (1 child)
I know that it didn't just start. But there's just so much you can sim before you build, when a lot of your company is still working on FH and Block5.
But I also know that it takes well over a year from the time you have the first full-scale elements being assembled, to the time you actually try to fly. There's a lot of stuff which has to come together, fit together, work together, and a monster list of testing scenarios.
If Elon posts a picture of a prototype tomorrow, I'll believe it might maybe fly next year.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday March 14 2018, @11:05PM
Oh, come on. Can't be more complicated than putting together an IKEA piece, can it? (grin)
After all it was you that designed that lot of stuff, so you know the shit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:42PM (2 children)
Do you have a source for that "reach orbit by itself" bit? I hadn't seen that, and it would be very impressive. Obviously, it'll need to do so from Mars, but that's a much smaller challenge than on Earth.
Falcon 9 Full Thrust: 29t to LEO, including the max of payload of 23t plus the second stage and fairing, using 518t fuel. 18t fuel per 1t to LEO
Falcon Heavy: 64t payload, or 70t total to LEO with (guessing that all three boosters carry a standard full fuel load) 1,340t fuel. 20t fuel per 1t to LEO
BFR Spaceship: 85t ship carrying 1,100t fuel. Even assuming no payload, that would be 13t fuel per 1t to LEO.
That would be a pretty impressive improvement considering that methane and RP-1 offer roughly the same specific impulse.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday March 14 2018, @10:01PM (1 child)
https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/76e79c/i_am_elon_musk_ask_me_anything_about_bfr/dodec8l [reddit.com]
BFS without booster can do point-to-point suborbital "airline" flights, and it can apparently get into orbit, albeit with a small payload and possibly worse $/kg than the complete rocket with booster.
Looking at the Falcon 9 and BFS numbers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFR_(rocket) [wikipedia.org]
Empty mass: 85,000 kg (187,000 lb)
Gross mass: 1,335,000 kg (2,943,000 lb)
Engines: 7 × Raptor (4 × vacuum, 3 × sea level)
Thrust: 12.7 MN (2,900,000 lbf) total
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_9 [wikipedia.org]
Mass: 549,054 kg (1,210,457 lb)
First stage thrust: FT (late 2016): 7,607 kN (Block 5 is 7-8% percent higher)
Second stage thrust: FT: 934 kN
The Raptor rocket engine [wikipedia.org] has 2-3 times the thrust of the Merlin 1D.
So the BFS, which is a "second stage", has over 12 times the thrust of the Falcon 9 second stage, and over 50% more than the complete Falcon 9 Block 5.
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(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday March 14 2018, @10:46PM
Thanks, nice to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. I hope he can pull it off.
A 27% reduction in propellant per ton would still be quite impressive though.
Oh, and FYI the Wikipedia page you linked is still is still describing the original interplanetary BFR, not the new, smaller design with only two atmospheric engines.
Also, it might not be a good idea to use those vacuum engines in an atmosphere - it sounds like using rocket bells optimized for less than ~40% of ambient pressure will result in flow separation, which can cause bell damage or control difficulties.