SpaceX shoots for next milestone: A more reusable Falcon 9 Block 5
Paul BrinkmannContact Reporter
Orlando Sentinel
A scheduled launch of SpaceX’s newest version of the Falcon 9 rocket is another big deal in the development of space exploration.
It will be the first launch of the Block 5, a significant leap forward in rocket re-usability. The Block 5 is designed to fly 12 times without much work — just basically cleaning it up, refueling it and putting it back on the launch pad.
SpaceX fired up the rocket engines in a test on Friday evening.
The rocket will be carrying a communication satellite for Bangladesh called the Bangabandhu 1. As of Friday, the launch window was 4 p.m. through 6:25 p.m. Monday, at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. But SpaceX suggested on Twitter that review of the test data might push the launch later in the week.
If you’re a sci-fi fan, reusing rockets might seem really primitive. Buck Rogers, Princess Leia and other space fiction characters are constantly jumping back in their spacecraft for another trip.
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But the best example of re-usability in real life was the space shuttle, before SpaceX started recovering booster rockets in 2015 and Dragon space capsules in 2017.
The short-term benefit of reusing rockets is a lower cost. But the long-term benefit would be much faster launching of satellite constellations and other missions. SpaceX itself has plans to launch 12,000 small satellites, while OneWeb is about to start building a round of about 900 satellites for launch from the Space Coast.
Like almost everything he does, reusing rockets is eventually another step in SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s vision for sending humans to Mars.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell explained what makes the Block 5 more reusable on “The Space Show” internet radio show about six months ago.
“We’ve worked a lot on this particular vehicle. A lot of the active components, the valves have been redesigned and requalified for much higher levels … for much longer durations, so that’s a contributing factor,” Shotwell said.
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The rocket’s Merlin engines “have a number of improvements… that should give us more life,” she added.
Once SpaceX proves the Block 5 design, its next challenge is expected to be a 24-hour turnaround.
“It’s not even refurbishing, it’s really just inspecting and then being ready to launch,” Shotwell said.
Eric Seedhouse, assistant professor of commercial space operations for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said reuse will save money.
Currently SpaceX’s charge for a launch is about one-third that of its competitors such as ULA or ArianeSpace, or $62 million, according to the company’s website. Seedhouse said the cost for a “pre-flown” booster is $55.8 million, but the company didn’t confirm that.
SpaceX is also planning to recover the fairing – the nose of the rocket that covers the satellite or other payload. Seedhouse said that would save another $6 million, dropping the cost below $50 million. But he’s not sure that SpaceX needs to drop its costs any lower than they are now, at least until a viable competitor emerges at a similar price point.
“If a customer uses a pre-flown booster they’re getting about a 10 percent discount,” he said. “I think that discount could grow each time its re-used.”
SpaceX publicly posts the cost of a “fully expendable" rocket launch, which apparently doesn’t include any pre-flown discount. Other than that, the company is extremely private about its costs.
“We’re not sure how re-usability is affecting the market yet,” said John Holst, senior analyst with The Space Foundation based in Colorado Springs.
He said the current SpaceX launch cost is lower than the industry because it’s the first company to emerge out of the growing private company competition for space.
“The prices are so low because of the way they built the Falcon 9 — things were done in house, they bought latches at Home Depot, used racing harnesses instead of specially designed NASA harnesses,” Holst said. “SpaceX had no assurance they would survive, that was a motivation.”
He said he believes SpaceX might be looking at automating the rocket refueling and turnaround process.
“If it’s 24 hours, it almost has to be automated,” Holst said.
Anytime something new is tried in a rocket launch, there’s risk involved, which always heightens interest in a launch.
After the Block 5 is proven, SpaceX will also continue working toward the next generation of its rocket — known only as the BFR.
Musk has said it would be much more efficient and much larger, 348 feet tall, compared with the Falcon 9 at 230 feet. Musk has shown photos of the BFR under construction on social media.
“I wonder if this is all just practice for the BFR, what we’re seeing today,” Holst said. “It all seems to point.”
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