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It's actually the length of the fairing that's the issue. The Falcon fairing can only accommodate payloads 11.4m long. The BA 330 is 16.8m long, and that doesn'
by nkoren 9y ago
It's actually the length of the fairing that's the issue. The Falcon fairing can only accommodate payloads 11.4m long. The BA 330 is 16.8m long, and that doesn't compress at all.
- avmich 9y ago> The Falcon fairing can only accommodate payloads 11.4m long. Are you sure? I was under impression I've read about 17 meters long fairing. Maybe for FH only. Edit: "The fairing itself is 43 feet high and 17 feet wide, big enough, as the company points out, to hold a city bus." http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2013/05/nasas_plum_brook_station_tests.html http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2013/05/nasas_plu... So, 43 feet or 13,1 m. And this perhaps include nose part, which is conical rather than cylindrical. OTOH Bigelow can definitely adjust the size. And from what I saw on the explanation video, B330 grows both in diameter and in length when deployed. So - ?
- nkoren 9y agoYeah, here's a diagram showing the inner fairing dimensions: https://marssettlement.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/falcon9fairing17ft.jpg https://marssettlement.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/falcon9fa... "Fairing 2.0", which just flew yesterday for the first time, is larger but only by a few inches. It would indeed be possible for the Heavy to have a larger fairing, but Musk has said he'll only do that if the BFR looks like it's going to take longer than he expects.
- greglindahl 9y agoNote that Bigelow can choose any length they want. If they want to launch on ULA, their current plan is fine.