Fri, Jul 25, 2014
Confirms Ability Of Booster To Touch Down At Near Zero Velocity
Following last week's successful launch of six ORBCOMM satellites, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage that carried the satellite to orbit reentered Earth’s atmosphere and soft landed in the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX says this test confirms that the Falcon 9 booster is able to consistently reenter from space at hypersonic velocity, restart main engines twice, deploy landing legs and touch down at near zero velocity.
After landing, the vehicle tipped sideways as planned to its final water safing state in a nearly horizontal position. The water impact caused loss of hull integrity, but the company says it received all the necessary data to achieve a successful landing on a future flight.
Going forward, SpaceX says it is taking steps to minimize the build up of ice and spots on the camera housing in order to gather improved video on future launches. At this point, the company says it is highly confident of being able to land successfully on a floating launch pad or back at the launch site, and refly the rocket with no required refurbishment.
However, SpaceX says its next couple launches are for very high velocity geostationary satellite missions, which don’t allow enough residual propellant for landing. In the longer term, missions like that will fly on Falcon Heavy, but until then Falcon 9 will need to fly in expendable mode. The company said in statement released to the media that it will attempt another water landing on flight 13 of Falcon 9, but with a low probability of success. Flights 14 and 15 will attempt to land on a solid surface with an improved probability of success, the company said.
(Images from SpaceX YouTube video)
More News
Aero Linx: Model Aeronautical Association of Australia MAAA clubs are about fun flying, camaraderie and community. For over 75 years, the MAAA has been Australia’s largest fl>[...]
Touchdown Zone Lighting Two rows of transverse light bars located symmetrically about the runway centerline normally at 100 foot intervals. The basic system extends 3,000 feet alon>[...]
“Discovery and innovation are central to our mission at Virgin Galactic. We’re excited to build on our successful record of facilitating scientific experiments in subor>[...]
How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]
Student Pilot Reported That During Rotation, “All Of A Sudden The Back Of The Plane Kicked To The Right..." Analysis: The student pilot reported that during rotation, “>[...]