11
$\begingroup$

Does anyone know how much fuel the Falcon Heavy can hold, the RP-1 fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer, and how much of that will it use to get to a certain point?

I don't know how i would calculate something like this. And the price of RP-1 is something I can't get a good answer on.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
13
$\begingroup$

SpaceX doesn't publish this, but Spaceflight101 usually has pretty good estimates for this sort of data.

Core and boosters, each:

LOX Mass 287,430 kg
RP-1 Mass 123,570 kg

Second stage:

LOX Mass* 75,200kg
RP-1 Mass* 32,300kg

The cost of fueling a Falcon 9 is in the region of \$200,000 (for LOX plus RP-1), so a Falcon Heavy would be 2.5 times that, or \$0.5 million.

LOX costs in the region of \$0.20/kg, so (using the \$200k figure above) RP-1 would then be \$1,20/kg.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
7
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ is the 0.5 mil. included in the 90 million they need for each launch? $\endgroup$
    – Pjotr
    Commented Dec 10, 2018 at 13:07
  • 7
    $\begingroup$ @Pjotr: I think they ask for $90 million, but that's income not cost. $\endgroup$
    – MSalters
    Commented Dec 10, 2018 at 13:24
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @MSalters To nitpick, that would be the price or revenue (income is after expenses). $\endgroup$
    – chrylis -cautiouslyoptimistic-
    Commented Dec 10, 2018 at 19:04
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @chrylis Income is ambiguous - it can mean revenue (pre expenses) or earnings (net expenses.) $\endgroup$
    – corsiKa
    Commented Dec 10, 2018 at 19:53
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ This is a great example of why fuel efficiency is much less of a concern than re-usability from a cost standpoint. (it is a big deal when considering delta v however) A major portion of the cost is the initial (and continuing) engineering, initial manufacturing, and servicing in-between flights. $\endgroup$
    – Aaron
    Commented Dec 10, 2018 at 21:05

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.