SpaceX cuts turnaround time
A scheduled launch of SpaceX’s newest version of the Falcon 9 rocket is another big deal in the development of space exploration.
It will be the first launch of the Block 5, a significant leap forward in rocket re-usability. The Block 5 is designed to fly 12 times without much work — just basically cleaning it up, refueling it and putting it back on the launch pad. Previous versions of the Falcon 9 could only times.
SpaceX fired up the rocket engines in a test on Friday evening.
The rocket will be carrying a communication satellite for Bangladesh called the Bangabandhu 1. As of Friday, the launch window was 4 p.m. through 6:25 p.m. Monday, at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. But SpaceX suggested on Twitter that review of the test data might push the launch later in the week.
If you’re a sci-fi fan, reusing rockets might seem really primitive. Buck Rogers, Princess Leia and other space fiction characters are constantly jumping back in their spacecraft for another trip. be used two or three
But the best example of re-usability in real life was the space shuttle, before SpaceX started recovering booster rockets in 2015 and Dragon space capsules in 2017.
The short-term benefit of reusing rockets is a lower cost. But the long-term benefit would be much faster launching of satellite constellations and other missions. SpaceX itself has plans to launch 12,000 small satellites, while OneWeb is about to start building a round of about 900 satellites for launch from the Space Coast.
Like almost everything he does, reusing rockets is eventually another step in SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s vision for sending humans to Mars.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell explained what makes the Block 5 more reusable on “The Space Show” internet radio show about six months ago.
“We’ve worked a lot on this particular vehicle. A lot of the active components, the valves have been redesigned and requalified for much higher levels … for much longer durations, so that’s a contributing factor,” Shotwell said.
The rocket’s Merlin engines “have a number of improvements… that should give us more life,” she added. Once SpaceX proves the Block design, its next challenge is ex- Latest booster designed for quicker relaunch with less maintenance 5