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 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.