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Apparently the rocket is now very sooty. Think about it: SpaceX is the only company launching rockets covered in soot from previous launches. Because they can.
by irdc 3y ago
Apparently the rocket is now very sooty. Think about it: SpaceX is the only company launching rockets covered in soot from previous launches. Because they can.
Remarkable.
- IG_Semmelweiss 3y agohow are competitors faring with relaunch capabilities ? Has anyone been able to even launch the same rocket twice ? Or does space X effectively hold a 19X advantage over them now ?
- dotnet00 3y agoI think RocketLab came closest to being able to attempt a reflight of a booster, but in the end they too have shelved reuse of Electron as they build Neutron from the ground up for F9 style reusability.
- proaralyst 3y agoBlue Origin have a (significantly less capable) reusable suborbital rocket, and Rocket Lab have reflown an engine. It's worth noting that the Falcon 9 only reuses the first stage and payload fairings, with the second stage expended. I believe SpaceX's Starship is the only fully reusable rocket in realistic development
- dylan604 3y agowhat good is a suborbital rocket? is the expectation that the payload will then have its own booster functionality to finish the boost to orbital altitudes?
- proaralyst 3y agoI think the idea was that they could demonstrate and develop vertical landing technology while selling the vehicle (tourism and some freefall science experiments). I think they've done two or three tourist flights using it, and maybe a couple more science flights. They lost the booster a year or so ago and have been making sure they fix the problems since. In practice, SpaceX's approach of starting with an orbital rocket and adding reuse worked a lot better, given they started later.
- dylan604 3y ago>In practice, SpaceX's approach of starting with an orbital rocket and adding reuse worked a lot better, given they started later. This is something I forget about. Blue Origin in 2000, SpaceX in 2002 (according to WikiP). It really makes me think less of BO's "accomplishments".
- idontwantthis 3y agoIt’s confusing to even talk about Blue Origin and SpaceX at the same time. New Glenn is so silly that no one else wanted to make one with so little capability and so much cost. It’s a toy, basically.
- Rebelgecko 3y agoVulcan is supposedly launching next month, but they're not planning on reusing the whole first stage (ULA claims that with their design the economics favor just reusing the engines). BO is working on a reusable rocket but I think it's a long ways off from launching (and no guarantee it will). >Has anyone been able to even launch the same rocket twice? DC-X did in the 90s, the first prototype launched 3 times., DC-X was canceled before they could actually make it to orbit.
- cuSetanta 3y agoI asked one of the launch managers last year about the soot, and apparently they used to clean them after each use, but it was taking several days and costing quite a lot. So they just stopped doing it.