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Why did SpaceX give up on “catching” falling fairings? Its VP of launch explains
- cratermoon 3y agoThey optimized the wrong thing – getting the fairings before they fell into the ocean where they could be damaged by salt water – and determined that it was way easier to make the fairings more robust and able to tolerate a water landing and a bit of salt spray.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, with nine engines and the bulk of the mass, accounts for about half of the cost of manufacturing a rocket, so this represents a considerable savings in time and money for SpaceX This is a common misunderstanding of SpaceX’s model. Reüse’s principal benefit is not better margins. It’s higher launch frequency. Building a new first stage takes longer than refurbishing one (while building another), and 2x profit is more then 20 to 40% higher margin. That is what has given them a 1/3 global market share in rocket launches, one short of China [1]. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00048-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00048-7