Launch News SpaceX Falcon 9 Return to Flight with 11 Orbcomm-2 satellites, December 21/22, 2015

[Thunder Chicken]

That's how Blue Origin did it. They used the same transporter/erector they use to transport the stack to the pad to pick the stage up.

Yeah, but the Falcon 9 is much bigger. A dedicated crane rig may not be such a bad permanent option.

It would be much cheaper if SpaceX could just get the stages to return to the pad and stack back on top of each other. They should get on that. How hard could that be?

 

[Urwumpe]

It would be much cheaper if SpaceX could just get the stages to return to the pad and stack back on top of each other. They should get on that. How hard could that be?

Why land? You could bring the payload, second stage and some fuel to the first stage in free fall if you are fast enough and install them right there.

 

[Andy44]

Why land? You could bring the payload, second stage and some fuel to the first stage in free fall if you are fast enough and install them right there.

The alternate space shuttle idea by Chrysler, SERV, was (hopefully) going to land right back on the same pad it launched from.

 

[Urwumpe]

The alternate space shuttle idea by Chrysler, SERV, was (hopefully) going to land right back on the same pad it launched from.

Well, it did not need much pad anyway, but I doubt that it would have been that easy in reality. Some kind of service structure would have been needed and that kind of service structure would need to be mobile enough to compensate landing errors.. you would need some kind of sound suppression system. And of course, lots of NASA and Air Force bureaucracy.

 

[Frilock]

I wonder how feasible some type of 'mobile landing platform' would be? After it lands, some arms come up to steady it, and the whole thing wheels upright back to the processing center, and a special crane there could lay it down right outside the front door.

 

[Sky Captain]

I think even if reuse costs more than estimated ability to bring used stage back for inspection has the potential to improve reliability for expandable version as well. They can check it for stresses, maybe there are areas where they are barely avoiding failure (like the faulty struts) that can be identified post flight and fixed when new stages are manufactured. If they had recovered a stage earlier it is possible faulty struts could have been identified and fixed avoiding loss of ISS resupply mission.

I bet at some point after SpaceX will have more stages returned there will be new version of first stage designed with lessons learned from inspections of flown stages.

 

[Urwumpe]

I wonder how feasible some type of 'mobile landing platform' would be? After it lands, some arms come up to steady it, and the whole thing wheels upright back to the processing center, and a special crane there could lay it down right outside the front door.

The problem is that, regardless how good your guidance system is, it will never land you exactly in the center of the landing site. You need some way to compensate this error. Either by moving the platform or moving the spacecraft after landing. The simplest thing in this chain would be simply installing all crucial infrastructure on a wheeled platform, that you can quickly drive to the spacecraft after landing.

 

[Andy44]

Well they don't seem to need any more equipment than what they have right now. Specialized support equipment can cost you a lot of money. If all you need is to rent a big crane then all's better.

 

[Urwumpe]

Well they don't seem to need any more equipment than what they have right now. Specialized support equipment can cost you a lot of money. If all you need is to rent a big crane then all's better.

Yes, but specialized equipment can save money and time - but it also means R&D costs, you might have fixed costs that you don't get by renting cranes, etc.

 

[Andy44]

Yes, but specialized equipment can save money and time - but it also means R&D costs, you might have fixed costs that you don't get by renting cranes, etc.

Yes, I am sure one of those hipsters from the video is doing a trade study on this stuff even now. :lol:

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Yes, I am sure one of those hipsters from the video is doing a trade study on this stuff even now. :lol:

Q: How did the hipster engineer from SpaceX burn his hand?



A: He started to work on the Merlin before it was cool.


Geddit? :lol:

 

[Andy44]

Whatever, Falcon 9 is, like, the new Falcon 5.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

The Phantom Mfg solution would be to buy the crane.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

The Phantom Mfg solution would be to buy the crane.

You still have to pay the person to operate the crane, and rigging stuff that big without dinging it requires some experience and skill.

At some point, when they are cranking out rockets like sausages and flying stages back daily, they'll have to have a dedicated in-house system to turn these stages. For now, the local rigging company will do.

 

[Andy44]

when they are cranking out rockets like sausages

Nice Khrushchev reference!

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Crane operators/riggers and millwrights they have. There should be at least an 80 ton overhead crane inside their hangars. Well, maybe not that big, but they have one.

 

[dman]

At some point, when they are cranking out rockets like sausages .....

Cant wait until Elon Musk starts banging shoe on table bellowing "WE WILL BURY YOU..."

 

[Urwumpe]

Cant wait until Elon Musk starts banging shoe on table bellowing "WE WILL BURY YOU..."

The full quote would be better "if you like it or not, history is on our side. WE! WILL! BURY! YOU!"

 

[RGClark]

We've all been so focused on the last Falcon 9 landing that nobody set up a thread on the next Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Jan. 17th.

Bob Clark

 

[Thunder Chicken]

And potential Falcon 9 Heavy in April. :thumbup: Double or triple first stage flyback would be incredible.

---------- Post added at 11:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 AM ----------

We've all been so focused on the last Falcon 9 landing that nobody set up a thread on the next Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Jan. 17th.

Done.

Isn't this Galactic Penguin SST's job? :lol: