3 ms·
Musk said that they might attempt second stage recovery late next year for the Falcon Heavy.
by rohit89 9y ago
Musk said that they might attempt second stage recovery late next year for the Falcon Heavy.
- trose 9y agoSlightly different but yeah. The falcon has a single pre-orbit stage. The heavy has two pre-orbit stages. So it'll end up being three falcon engines stitched together with decouplers. Part of the way to orbit, the outside two decouple and return the to launch pad. Some time after that, the center engine decouples and lands on a barge. None of those will be going at orbit velocity though.
- Robotbeat 9y agoBut Musk has now said they are going to try upper stage reuse for Falcon Heavy. Not just the boosters: http://www.space.com/36412-spacex-completely-reusable-rocket-elon-musk.html http://www.space.com/36412-spacex-completely-reusable-rocket...
- Robotbeat 9y agoIndeed. Minor nit: the Falcon Heavy demo flight (with upper stage recovery attempt) is set for late THIS year, it's just that Musk puts the odds of successful upper stage recovery fairly low: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/847882289581359104 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/847882289581359104 Musk is "fairly confident" to have upper stage reuse operational by sometime next year: http://www.space.com/36412-spacex-completely-reusable-rocket-elon-musk.html http://www.space.com/36412-spacex-completely-reusable-rocket... Musk is notorious for doubling down on bets when the first bet seems like it most likely will succeed. I would bet you we'll see upper stage recovery within 1 or 2 years, with reuse of that stage within 2 to 4 years. (Particularly if SpaceX doesn't suffer another major failure within the next 2 years... Failures are always a significant possibility in this business given enough launches.) That counts as pretty darned soon.