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I strongly suspect they'll achieve at least partial re-usability if not full by 9 launches. If not SpaceX will at least have a very clear understanding of the
by mjevans 3y ago
I strongly suspect they'll achieve at least partial re-usability if not full by 9 launches. If not SpaceX will at least have a very clear understanding of the engineering problem by that point. I'm most worried about the final landing which I would not want to be anywhere close to until they've had a solid string of successes without any issues.
- dotnet00 3y agoI'm not sold on them achieving partial reusability in practice in 9 launches (assuming that the 9 launches happen mainly this year as they have requested). I think they'll have achieved it in theory (ie demonstrated a hover landing of the booster over water), but they've only just started to build out the second tower that'll be needed to actually test reusability without risking the entire launch infrastructure. Between the construction pauses during testing/launch, and things they can't really speed up like concrete hardening times, I don't think they'll be able to both have 9 flights AND operationalize the second tower this year.
- mjevans 3y agoYes, we solidly agree on the risks associated with an as yet, as far as I know offhand, completely new landing system... Two really strong metal toothpicks.