“We think this is the way SpaceX generates revenue and can be used to fund more advanced development, which is also a key stepping stone on the road to building a self-sufficient city on Mars.”
Editor’s note: This article is from “Netease Technology”, authorized to reprint.
Task highlights:
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Used a rocket that has been fired three times and successfully recycled
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Use second-hand fairing for the first time
November 12, according to foreign media reports, on Monday, local space exploration technology company SpaceX successfully launched the second batch of 60 Starlink satellites using the recovered Falcon 9 rocket to create a space base for Musk The vision of the Internet and the provision of broadband services around the world is another step.
This mission was conducted at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Florida, USA. SpaceX successfully launched and reclaimed the Falcon 9 rocket that performed four orbital missions for the first time, moving towards its ambitious design goals. A step. In terms of added value, the reusability of multiple parts of the Falcon 9 rocket is one of the most important achievements of the mission.
Figure: This Falcon 9 became the first rocket that SpaceX successfully executed four orbital-level launch missions
With the success of the Starlink-1 launch mission, the rocket has now launched a total of more than 35 tons of payload into Earth orbit. During the third launch in February 2019, the rocket also tried commercial landings for the first time, but ended in failure. Despite this, SpaceX has made breakthroughs in reusable rocket development and is already changing the rules of the game.
In addition to the historic completion of the fourth launch and recycling of the Falcon 9 rocket, the Starlink-1 mission marks the first launch of SpaceX’s second-hand payload fairing, a huge advancement that ensures almost all future Falcons Rocket launches can achieve 80% flight verification and 80% reusable levels. The StarLink-1 payload fairing was used in the April 2019 Arabsat 6A mission launch, this time for the first time.
Although the fairing launch and recovery conditions are extremely difficult, this successful reuse indicates that almost any fairing can be reused at least once in the future, even if it is not used for customer launches. Reusable in Starlink satellite launch missions.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk previously said that the fairie of the Falcon 9 (and heavy-duty heavy) rockets accounted for about 10% of the cost of the Falcon 9 launch, which means each The price of the fairing is about $6 million. In addition, it is believed that fairing production has the longest lead time in the SpaceX rocket manufacturing process, so that the fairing can easily become a bottleneck limiting the launch rhythm without the upgrade of expensive production facilities.
In contrast, SpaceX may choose to spend the same amount of time and money to have the fairings recycled and reused on a regular basis. The plan crossed a turning point in June and August 2019, when the fairing recycling vessel “GO Ms. Tree” successfully captured two half-faced fairings in succession, proving that recycling was possible. The Starlink-1 launch on November 11 also proved that the fairing can be reused even without successful recycling, which means that it may be much easier and more feasible to reuse the fairing that has been salvaged from the sea.
Muske said that space Internet services will be an important source of funding for SpaceX. He founded SpaceX in 2002 with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. SpaceX launched the first Starlink satellites in May and patched the design to increase spectrum capacity.
According to the Starlink website, SpaceX plans to continue to launch Starlink satellites in bulk and said it will provide services to parts of the northern United States and parts of Canada by 2020.
Muske said in a May earnings conference call: “We think this is a way for SpaceX to generate revenue, which can be used to fund more advanced rocket and spacecraft development, which is also to build a base on the moon, on Mars. Establish a key stepping stone on the road to self-sufficient cities.” (Little)