Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
zanl188 wrote:Blue Origins New Shepherd flew again this morning for the 4th time:
Each time a Falcon 9 landed on a drone ship, the rocket was transported back to Port Canaveral where it was unloaded by a crane and then moved to a nearby storage hangar at Kennedy Space Center.
The company did pay tariff fees for these rockets, but the fees weren’t that high. Port Canaveral has a list of fees for different types of incoming cargo, but "landed spacecraft" isn’t one of them. So, SpaceX’s landed rockets fall under the category of "all items not otherwise specified," which charges $3.02 per ton of cargo.
But with the new change, SpaceX could be paying up to $500 per ton; that could add up to $15,000 per rocket, since a recovered Falcon 9 can weigh up to 30 tons.
Francoflier wrote:Shame...
Rule #1 of space stuff: don't take anything for granted.
It's disappointing, but at this stage, they probably learn a lot more from the failures than from the successes.
SeJoWa wrote:Falcon 9 Heavy.
Tugger wrote:And sadly for better or worse they are becoming routine
maxter wrote:First video I've seen of a re-test/re-fire of a landed F9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZQY902xQcw
Cheers
zanl188 wrote:Landing video here:
https://youtu.be/KGe2KVdsVTk
I'm a bit surprised the firex system was not used. Kept waiting for it to come on and nothing happened...
Tugger wrote:Same here, I wondered what bits were burning under there.
One thing I find curious is why they can't show the full landing video. I know the satellite uplink gets interrupted by the vibration etc. but it's a known issue so why not just record it and then upload/download it afterwards.
It is always impressive to see just how "on target" the landings are.
Tugg
zanl188 wrote:I hope it's just insulation burning down there.
Wingtip1005 wrote:
KarelXWB wrote:Yes Falcon Heavy schedule keeps sliding to the right, even Q1 2017 now seems unachievable.
moo wrote:KarelXWB wrote:Yes Falcon Heavy schedule keeps sliding to the right, even Q1 2017 now seems unachievable.
You have to wonder whats making them push it to the right - all three first stage boosters are basically stock Falcon 9 FT bodies, I'm not even sure they plan to include cross feed in the first Heavy iteration, so whats the hold up? The Falcon 9 FT seems to be fairly bug free at this stage, so have they discovered something not-nice with the Heavy configuration or are they temporarily shelving the heavy in order to capitalise on Falcon 9 FT paying launch customers (as one Heavy launch is three FT launches)?
moo wrote:You have to wonder whats making them push it to the right - all three first stage boosters are basically stock Falcon 9 FT bodies, I'm not even sure they plan to include cross feed in the first Heavy iteration, so whats the hold up? The Falcon 9 FT seems to be fairly bug free at this stage, so have they discovered something not-nice with the Heavy configuration or are they temporarily shelving the heavy in order to capitalise on Falcon 9 FT paying launch customers (as one Heavy launch is three FT launches)?
SES — an international satellite operator based in Luxembourg — will be the first company to launch cargo to space on a reused SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket will carry the company’s SES-10 satellite, meant to provide telecommunications coverage to Latin America, into a very high orbit above Earth. That launch is scheduled for sometime in the fourth quarter of 2016 and will mark the first time SpaceX flies one of the rockets it has landed this past year.
The @SpaceX Falcon 9 just exploded at their Launch Complex at Cape Canaveral.
I am being told the explosion shook the entire facility.
The rocket is currently in flames. Staffers at the facility are telling me. Plumes of smoke rising from Launch Complex.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An explosion has rocked the SpaceX launch site in Florida.
NASA says SpaceX was conducting a test firing of its unmanned rocket when the blast occurred Thursday morning. The test, considered routine,
was in advance of a planned Saturday launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
SpaceX says no injuries in blast; says 'anomaly' on launch pad during test firing resulted in loss of vehicle and payload