SpaceX Aims For 2009 Re-usability Demo

Jan 9, 2009
Guy Norris/Orlando, Fla. guy_norris@aviationweek.com



Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) hopes to recover the spent first stage of its Falcon 1 launcher as early as the upcoming fifth test flight, says CEO and chief technical officer Elon Musk.

The successful recovery of the used first stage is an important milestone for SpaceX, which is determined to reduce the cost of access to space in part by increasing the re-usability of rocket sections. The second stage also is designed to be recovered, though this is a more serious technical challenge, Musk says.

Speaking at the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) aerospace sciences meeting here, Musk says "we are entering a new era of space exploration in which the private sector is going to play a larger role, particularly if we can get re-usability to work. The great goal we should have in space is to establish life on another planet -- that would be one of the greatest achievements in the history of life itself. The key to that is a truly re-usable spacecraft industry and we are at the dawn of a new era."

Musk adds that "Space-X is about one goal -- lowering the cost of access to space. Transportation is fundamental to everything, and imagine if ships hadn't been re-usable? Christopher Columbus would have needed six ships."

Musk adds that data from the first successful launch to orbit, Flight 4 (Aerospace DAILY, Sept. 30), indicated modifications are needed to improve the robustness of the first stage. "We got good data on Flight 4, which basically said the stage got cooked on the way in, so we're going to beef up the thermal protection and communications systems," he says. The latter design modification will guarantee that the first stage parachute activation system can be triggered by on-board systems rather than relying on off-board relay.

For first recovery, Musk says "Flight 5 is a better shot, but I think on Flight 6 it's highly likely we'll recover the first stage." Further plans for second stage recovery will take longer, he cautions. "Its going to be a reiterative process and it's even harder for stage two. It has got to have its own parachute recovery system as well as a de-orbit propulsion system and any pound you use for reusability is a pound subtracted from payload. It's probably going to be several missions before we've got that developed and it's a super hard problem," he adds.

Musk spoke not far from Cape Canaveral, where SpaceX's first Falcon 9 launch vehicle is being assembled. "We have completed most of the development on Falcon 9," says Musk, who adds "we're hoping for a summer launch." Falcon 9 is set to conduct three demonstration flights under the existing Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement with NASA. The first flight, C1, is targeted for mid-2009 and will be a short-duration mission involving four and a half orbits of the Dragon cargo vehicle, while C2, scheduled for the following November, will be a more complex mission requiring a 6-mile flyby of the International Space Station.

Photo of Falcon 1 launch: SpaceX