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They have occasional landing failures (one this year, two last year), and still do launch expendably every once in a blue moon, so they'll likely need to build
by rst 6y ago
They have occasional landing failures (one this year, two last year), and still do launch expendably every once in a blue moon, so they'll likely need to build a new one every once in a while until the end of the program is in sight.
(It looks like they have very few customers anymore that insist on a new-build booster -- the fussiest had been the US government, but at this point, NASA is accepting reused boosters for human spaceflight, and the NRO has also accepted one for a mission last year. As far as I know, no one has publicly said they'd rather their booster has a test flight yet.)
- wartron 6y agoI forget what its called, but if something is gonna fail... its most likely to fail on the maiden launch (or like first 100 miles for cars)
- shirro 6y agoBathtub Curve, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve
- ravedave5 6y agoIridium was very important in their booster reuse program, they were early supporters. Matt Desch (thier CEO) was a big supporter. https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss https://twitter.com/IridiumBoss https://spacenews.com/iridium-open-to-reused-falcon-9s-if-it-means-spacex-can-speed-up-schedule/ https://spacenews.com/iridium-open-to-reused-falcon-9s-if-it...