4 ms·

I didn't know about it either, but: > Landing a core stage on the platform would be a major achievement. However, Mr. Musk appears to have yet more plans for t

I didn't know about it either, but: > Landing a core stage on the platform would be a major achievement. However, Mr. Musk appears to have yet more plans for the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship. “Will allow (for) refuel and rocket flyback in future,” he added to the unveiling of the ship. http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/11/spacex-autonomous-spaceport-drone-ship/ http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/11/spacex-autonomous-spa...

ceejayoz 10y ago
I'm guessing that went the way of Falcon Heavy fuel crossfeed - too complex, too risky, and unnecessary.
- stepanhruda 10y ago
  They haven't reflown a single booster yet, this is the next step after that.
  - ceejayoz 10y ago
    It seems pretty unlikely unless SpaceX builds a larger, permanent installation out in the ocean (think oil rig style). The drone ships are relatively small. Storing cryogenic fuel on them would require a lot of infrastructure, which is costly and dangerous if you crash a booster. They have to return for fueling and maintenance, so a crane makes a lot more sense than incurring the wear, tear, and risk of a launch you could easily avoid.
    - jessriedel 10y ago
      None of this is that daunting if you're living in a world with the sort of high demand for low cost access to space that SpaceX (right or wrong) predicts and requires for all this to work. As SpaceX's competitors point out, reusable rockets don't make much economic sense unless the number of total flights goes up a lot. And if your barge is catching and returning 100 first stages per year, storing enough cryogenic fuel to get them back to land seems reasonable to me.
    - gozur88 10y ago
      There's no real point to it, either, unless you don't have enough boosters to satisfy demand. It would be cheaper to build an extra booster (and possibly extra ADSs) and keep returning them by sea.

ceejayoz 10y ago

I'm guessing that went the way of Falcon Heavy fuel crossfeed - too complex, too risky, and unnecessary.

stepanhruda 10y ago
They haven't reflown a single booster yet, this is the next step after that.
- ceejayoz 10y ago
  It seems pretty unlikely unless SpaceX builds a larger, permanent installation out in the ocean (think oil rig style). The drone ships are relatively small. Storing cryogenic fuel on them would require a lot of infrastructure, which is costly and dangerous if you crash a booster. They have to return for fueling and maintenance, so a crane makes a lot more sense than incurring the wear, tear, and risk of a launch you could easily avoid.
  - jessriedel 10y ago
    None of this is that daunting if you're living in a world with the sort of high demand for low cost access to space that SpaceX (right or wrong) predicts and requires for all this to work. As SpaceX's competitors point out, reusable rockets don't make much economic sense unless the number of total flights goes up a lot. And if your barge is catching and returning 100 first stages per year, storing enough cryogenic fuel to get them back to land seems reasonable to me.
  - gozur88 10y ago
    There's no real point to it, either, unless you don't have enough boosters to satisfy demand. It would be cheaper to build an extra booster (and possibly extra ADSs) and keep returning them by sea.