Space X to build reusable launch vehicle

williatw · Post by **williatw** » Tue May 29, 2012 9:03 pm

SpaceX has signed on their first commercial customer for Falcon Heavy:

http://www.transterrestrial.com/?p=42716

Washington, DC / Hawthorne, CA May 29, 2012 – Today, Intelsat, the world’s leading provider of satellite services, and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the world’s fastest growing space launch company, announced the first commercial contract for the Falcon Heavy rocket.

“SpaceX is very proud to have the confidence of Intelsat, a leader in the satellite communication services industry,” said Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer. “The Falcon Heavy has more than twice the power of the next largest rocket in the world. With this new vehicle, SpaceX launch systems now cover the entire spectrum of the launch needs for commercial, civil and national security customers.”

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Wed May 30, 2012 12:35 pm

As far as oxygen storage, CO2 scrubbing and whatever else is required for a life support system, I haven't seen anything. I imagine that is more a matter of adapting existing equipment/designs and so shouldn't present major issues (either integration or testing).

Yes, these things would be needed. As I said, the current dragon capsule is already quite capable of keeping a passenger alive for a very short trip, but you have to filter out the CO2 in order to keep people alive for longer.

zapkitty · Post by **zapkitty** » Wed May 30, 2012 12:39 pm

Netmaker wrote:As far as oxygen storage, CO2 scrubbing and whatever else is required for a life support system, I haven't seen anything. I imagine that is more a matter of adapting existing equipment/designs and so shouldn't present major issues (either integration or testing).

That's the case. Spacex will be working with a life support system being developed by Paragon specifically for commercial crew transports under a NASA contract.

It is an existing project and product but will without a doubt be developed further as work on the crewed version of Dragon progresses.

Netmaker wrote:The retro-rocket landing/abort system though would seem to be fairly unique to the Dragon capsule (excepting maybe the Delta Clipper?) and if so will require extensive testing.

Well, that and the whole reusable first and second stages thing

Falcon/Dragon is a work in progress and changes occur as things are proven or disproven but there's definitely a roadmap...

... one that ends on Mars

Netmaker · Post by **Netmaker** » Wed May 30, 2012 3:01 pm

zapkitty wrote: That's the case. Spacex will be working with a life support system being developed by Paragon specifically for commercial crew transports under a NASA contract.

It is an existing project and product but will without a doubt be developed further as work on the crewed version of Dragon progresses.

Netmaker wrote:The retro-rocket landing/abort system though would seem to be fairly unique to the Dragon capsule (excepting maybe the Delta Clipper?) and if so will require extensive testing.
Well, that and the whole reusable first and second stages thing

Falcon/Dragon is a work in progress and changes occur as things are proven or disproven but there's definitely a roadmap...

... one that ends on Mars

Thanks or the additional info Zap.

My understanding though is that the reusable first and second stages are not a requirement for obtaining a manned rating for the Dragon/Falcon9. Desirable as they are. That rating gets us out of the embarrassing position of having to depend on Russia to ferry our astronauts to the ISS and puts us back on par with Russia and China as far as manned space capabilities go.

I do like SpaceX's roadmap and their proven ability to deliver against their roadmap to date. I would have liked to have seen them be directly involved with Planetary Resources but imagine they will get some business from them in any event. Maybe Elon has his own ideas about mining the asteroids

I can't help but feeling that Mars is a distraction. At least in the short to medium term the focus should be on building infrastructure that is not encumbered by a gravity well or having to develop large scale mining projects to gain access to mineral/ice/metals deposits.

krenshala · Post by **krenshala** » Wed May 30, 2012 3:24 pm

From what I remember, the Dragon was designed from the ground up for both man and cargo capabilities. The difference between the two is which equipment is mounted in the pressurized volume: storage racks only for cargo missions, and storage racks plus life support and (possibly) avionics readouts/controls for a manned mission.

There was an article on Universe Today a month or so ago where they showed seven people seated in a Dragon capsule mockup fitted for flying people. My take on that is that SpaceX may be going slowly on man-rating, but they are definitely not sitting still.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Wed May 30, 2012 10:35 pm

Yes, Dragon was from the start designed to be manned. It is also quite modular and thus can be adapted to a lot of different missions. The escape system will be a pusher type, which will be an integral part of the capsule and this be reusable. When it is not used for an abort, it can be used for propulsive landing. This dual purpose is a genius design idea, indeed. This also allows Dragon to land on any planet or moon with a gravity of earths or less.
The capsule is a pretty solid design over all and the heatshield that can be reused about 100 times is easily replaced once its limits are reached (it is ablative after all), due to the simple shape.
The RLV Falcon9 will be interesting. The first stage will use the Merlin engines for landing, but it seems like the second stage will use the same Draco thrusters that are used by the Dragon for abort/landing for landing as well. The video may be missleading though and it might still be using the Merlin for the main power during landing and the Dracos for course corrections?
I am a little concerned by the increase in length of Falcon 9 1.1 (the next generation non RLV Falcon). I am assuming that this will also be the basis for the RLV Falcon9. The increased lengths could cause all sorts of problems. Especially the first stage is already quite long and narrow...

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Thu May 31, 2012 4:55 am

Re-entry and splashdown today.
ISS Team Approves Unberthing Of Dragon Cargo Capsule

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Thu May 31, 2012 10:43 pm

Successful Splashdown! Congrats to SpaceX! You showed all the big government- wasteful spending congress people that this is the way to go! Thanks for giving us a vision for a future in spaceflight!

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 4:21 am

Impressive.

'Go' for reuseability.

For follow-on systems, pB11 fusion advice available on this forum. Cheap.

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 5:01 am

Compared to the recovered COTS 1 Dragon.

I suspect a higher ballistic coefficient on the COTS 2 mission due to greater payload and a supression of first-mission conservatism.

But, to be fair, this is a picture of the 'good' (leeward) side.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:00 pm

The shuttles were quite scorched too, after reentry. This is nothing that a new paint job cant fix (and a capsule like that is more easily repainted than the shuttle would have been).
Personally I would rather see them employ magnet hydrodynamic heatshields, a concept that I have been thinking about for 20 years and I think the Russians are going to test it sometime soon. Such a heatshield would form a larger bubble arround the bottom of the capsule which should reduce the plasma from getting close enough to the top side of it.
I am not sure, but is the "top" of the capsule also covered in a(thinner layer of) PICA? I would assume not, which might speak for simply using a grey metal finish with just some clear paint. That should look less scorched than the bright white.

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 3:55 am

No PICA beyond the base.

I prefer a simple, unpainted, possibly heat-piped or transpiration-cooled, metallic heatshield around a 'fluffy' (low ballistic coefficient), large-planform (waverider-like) vehicle.

Like the one I'm planning to design as soon as I have time to learn CAD.

A Polywell, however, would make a magnetic shield much more feasible... but I lean towards passive systems for life-critical functions where possible.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 2:21 pm

Polywell, however, would make a magnetic shield much more feasible... but I lean towards passive systems for life-critical functions where possible.

Wont even need a Polywell for that. You can generate electricity from the induction of the plasma moving past the magnetic field of the superconducting magnet. It is beautiful

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 4:26 pm

If it's a truly "room" temperature superconductor, with sufficient Tc margin to cover contingencies, and sufficient field strength can be generated to deflect plasma reliably, I'm for it.

If it uses copper-oxide or similar-Tc superconductors, I'd want a simple pressure-fed cooling system and redundant confirmation of cryogenic dewar contents prior to deorbit.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 6:57 pm

Polywell, however, would make a magnetic shield much more feasible... but I lean towards passive systems for life-critical functions where possible.

Wont even need a Polywell for that. You can generate electricity from the induction of the plasma moving past the magnetic field of the superconducting magnet. It is beautiful in that way.