Those Spacex Guys *really* Are Steely Eyed Missile Men.

[GreatOldOne]

Latest launch, another pin point landing. Yeeeeeehah!

 

[Dan_S]

I've never really understood the whole purpose of this project. It can't compete with the SLS, so I don't see what they hope to accomplish with it.

 

[John Hasler]

I've never really understood the whole purpose of this project. It can't compete with the SLS, so I don't see what they hope to accomplish with it.

They are making a successful business of launching satellites and getting paid for it. Landing the stages will allow reuse and reduce costs. In the mean time, SLS doesn't even exist yet.

 

[Dan_S]

Yea, but if memory serves even the heaviest version of SpaceX has less lifting capacity than the lightest version of SLS. I also seem to remember them having a limit on how high of an orbit they can achieve.

 

[John Hasler]

Yea, but if memory serves even the heaviest version of SpaceX has less lifting capacity than the lightest version of SLS. I also seem to remember them having a limit on how high of an orbit they can achieve.

They are routinely putting communication satellites in GEO. They sent a NASA spacecraft to L2: the second stage went into solar orbit. The Falcon Heavy, scheduled to launch this fall, will have nearly three times the capacity of the Falcon 9. SpaceX already has contracts to launch DoD satellites and routinely sends cargo spacecraft to the ISS (and returns them to Earth for reuse). SLS will only be used for large interplanetary missions: it will be far too expensive for anything else. SpaceX's planned BFR will have a much larger payload than SLS or even Saturn V.

 

[hermetic]

Can anyone enlighten me as to why the choose to land on a barge at sea, rather than on land, like the "other lot" do. I agree though, when I saw the first controlled landing on land, I though it was a huge breakthrough, and TBH never thought they would crack this barge landing. What do they do if the weather cuts up rough at sea?

 

[hermetic]

DUH! I googled it, it is to do with the amount of fuel left over, and the usual trajectory which more poften than not leaves the booster coming down at sea!

 

[John Hasler]

Can anyone enlighten me as to why the choose to land on a barge at sea

Takes less fuel to land on an optimally positioned barge than to go back to the launch site. However, they can and have done the latter when the fuel budget permits.

rather than on land, like the "other lot" do.

What other lot? No one else does this.

I agree though, when I saw the first controlled landing on land, I though it was a huge breakthrough, and TBH never thought they would crack this barge landing. What do they do if the weather cuts up rough at sea?

If the weather is so bad that the barge can't keep station they just give up and dump the stage in the ocean (which is what the competition does on every launch so they're still way ahead). They've had to do this once so far. Takes pretty bad weather.

Despite appearences the barge landing is not much harder than one on land.

 

[hermetic]

Yes John, I see all that now, I was under the impression that there were two separate companies trying to outdo each other, as you may guess I have only a passing interest in this, but I though the landings were amazing feats of technology, thanks for the info though!

 

[GreatOldOne]

Conventional wisdom: “So you’re going to build a test article the size of a water tower, out of stainless steel plate welded together in situ, in the sand dunes by the ocean. Then you’re going to stick an enormous staged combustion engine to the bottom of it, fill it full of cryogenic methane and LOX, and hop it 20m into the air? Impossible.”
SpaceX: “Hold my beer”.

Starhopper successfully conducts debut Boca Chica Hop - NASASpaceFlight.com

SpaceX’s Starhopper has successfully undertaken its first real hop into the Texas air on Thursday.…

www.nasaspaceflight.com

Also check out Elon’s video of the business end during the test.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1154629726914220032

And to cap off what must have been a spectacular day for them, the latest trip to the Space Station went off without a hitch, and had an amazing video of the landing from the top of the first stage.