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SpaceX launches reusable Falcon 9 rocket for record-breaking SEVENTH time before first high-altitude test of its spaceship prototype next week
- The Falcon 9 was launched Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida
- It was the seventh time that that particular first stage booster had been used in flight
- The booster was recovered from SpaceX and could be used in an eighth flight
- The company is also preparing for the first high-altitude test of its Starship rocket
SpaceX reused a Falcon 9 rocket for a record-breaking seventh time during its most recent mission to put another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit.
It comes as Elon Musk-owned space launch company is preparing for the first high-altitude test flight of its giant Starship prototype spaceship, dubbed the SN8.
Launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 02:13 GMT this morning, Flight Falcon 9 was the seventh use of that particular first stage booster.
This broke the previous record for a six-trip upgrade and helps Musk in his mission to reduce the cost of launching payloads from Earth by reusing equipment.
Falcon 9 was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in the early hours of this morning carrying the sixteenth batch of Starlink satellites
SpaceX was able to retrieve the booster from the Atlantic Ocean using a drone flight, which means it may be able to fly for the eighth time in the future.
The booster was not the only part of the Falcon 9 to be reused during this flight, which brings the total of Starlink small Internet satellites to nearly 1,000.
The fairing cover used to protect the payload had also been used previously – half on another trip and another on two different trips prior to this, SpaceX confirmed.
Whenever SpaceX is able to reuse a component, it reduces the cost of bringing material into low Earth orbit compared to using parts for the first time.
Research from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that the average cost to put 1kg of material into orbit on a SpaceX launch is $ 2,600.
By comparison, the average cost to put a 1kg object into orbit from a Russian Soyuz was $ 17,900 and the United Launch Alliance Delta E was $ 177,900 per kg.
Musk is working to further reduce that cost with every element of the Falcon 9 they are able to reuse.
Part of that drive to reuse is driving the development of the massive, fully reusable two-stage in-orbit heavy-duty vehicle.
It has been in development since 2012 and is designed to significantly reduce the cost of each launch by being fully reusable.
A single launch of Falcon 9 costs about $ 51 million if it reuses components that have flown previously – Musk hopes to get the Spaceship launch for $ 2 million per trip.
That reality may soon be a step forward as the company prepares to send the latest Starship SN8 prototype on a high-altitude test flight.
Musk tweeted that he has already successfully passed a static fire test and that in the next week or so he would fly up to about nine miles into the sky.
This broke the previous record for a six-trip booster and helps Musk in his mission to reduce the cost of launching payloads from Earth by reusing equipment.
Space X performed its third static fire on the entire SN8 spacecraft on Thursday, November 12 at its facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The next step is a high altitude test
The edge of space is agreed upon by NASA and others as being 50 miles above sea level, but to enter orbit it must be at least 100 miles above sea level.
If this latest flight test – which will see the triple Raptor engine ignite and lift the spaceship 400 feet into the air – is successful, further higher tests are likely to follow.
November 30 was provisionally set aside as the date of the high altitude test that will see the spacecraft reach the highest altitude ever flown.
Musk tweeted: ‘Good static fire of spaceship SN8! Aiming for the first flight of 15km / ~ 50k ft altitude next week. The objectives are to test the climb of 3 engines, the body flaps, the transition from the main to the head tank and the landing flip. ‘
Landing is one of the most important aspects, as it must be fully reusable to achieve the goals and price per flight set by the SpaceX team.
WHAT IS ELON MUSK’S “BFR”?
The BFR (Big F *** ing Rocket), now known as Starship, will complete all missions and is smaller than those announced by Musk in 2016.
The SpaceX CEO said the rocket will make its first voyage to the red planet in 2022, carrying cargo only, followed by a manned mission in 2024 and said other SpaceX products would be “ cannibalized ” to pay for it.
The rocket would be partially reusable and able to fly directly from Earth to Mars.
Once built, Musk believes the rocket could be used to travel to Earth, saying passengers would be able to get anywhere in under an hour.
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