3 ms·
Reusing the 1st stage imposed a penalty but not a massive one. For the Falcon it means a 30% to 40% penalty, not a 66% one. The 22000kg to 8000 kg difference
by Symmetry 11y ago
Reusing the 1st stage imposed a penalty but not a massive one. For the Falcon it means a 30% to 40% penalty, not a 66% one. The 22000kg to 8000 kg difference is due to the speed you need to send the payload out at. For a GTO the payload will be in an eliptical orbit traveling between 35,786 km and 120km. For a GEO launch it will just stay at 120km or so. The GTO orbit requires much more energy per kg of payload so the Falcon 9 can't launch as much mass to GTO as it can to GEO, that doesn't have anything to do with reusability.
Yes, American space companies use mT for metric tons. They normally use imperial units so please forgive them.
Yes, that's what fully expendable means.