All Questions
131
questions
3
votes
0
answers
252
views
What advantages will Rocket Lab's Neutron have over the Falcon 9?
With Neutron's debut coming up next year, are there any advantages of Rocket Labs design over SpaceX's Falcon 9 FT? The most obvious I can see are the attached fairings, but certainly with all the ...
- 1,001
0
votes
1
answer
237
views
Are Falcon Heavy fairings reused?
I heard a lot about SpaceX reusing the fairings from the Falcon 9. Do they/ are they planning to do the same for Falcon Heavy?
3
votes
1
answer
257
views
How can you find out how many times a SpaceX fairing has been reused?
For the past few years, SpaceX has been reusing there fairings. While on some SpaceX webcasts they tell you, others they dont. Is there a way to find out how many times judging from how they appear? ...
14
votes
4
answers
6k
views
Why keep expending SpaceX boosters?
SpaceX has only (to my knowledge) landed one set of two Falcon Heavy boosters. All others were expended. SpaceX also said during the early days of the company that each Falcon 9 booster could fly up ...
- 1,476
22
votes
4
answers
6k
views
Why are only 2 out of the 3 boosters on Falcon Heavy reused?
In this picture it shows that the side boosters of the Falcon heavy will land. However, the middle booster is not going to land. Why is this the case?
- 5,732
2
votes
0
answers
104
views
SpaceX reusable rocket - when was technology first available and cost effective?
Today, a SpaceX rocket launching can be 97% cheaper than a Russian Soyuz ride cost in the ’60s
What is earliest year such reusable rockets could have been constructed given technology availability or ...
- 169
0
votes
1
answer
847
views
How many times has SpaceX reused Falcon 9 first stage until 20th May 2022? [closed]
How many times has SpaceX reused Falcon 9 first stage until now?
Not about the possibility. I want to know the current progress with the Falcon 9 first stage.
- 17
2
votes
1
answer
326
views
What is the lowest the cost of launch can get to?
The cost of launch has been dramatically reduced by companies such as SpaceX building parts in house. Once that lowered the cost of launch as much as it could, they moved onto reusing the first stage, ...
10
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Why do $\text{CH}_4$ (Raptor) engines produce less soot than RP-1 (Merlin) engines?
SpaceX's Merlin engine, which burns RP-1 and LOX, has soot visible after the first stage lands. Many articles on the web say SpaceX's Raptor engine, which burns methane and LOX, is clean. ...
- 2,888
14
votes
1
answer
729
views
What is the heat shield refurbishment procedure for a crew Dragon capsule?
How, specifically, is the heat shield replaced or refurbished? More precisely... How do they know it will work for the next mission? :-P
- 6,270
6
votes
1
answer
320
views
Keep a 2nd stage in orbit and refuel [closed]
Why does SpaceX not develop a second stage that can be used to meet with a first stage to pick up payload and refuel, thus transporting goods to orbit repeatedly instead of being used only once?
- 69
5
votes
2
answers
810
views
Does Starship reuse actually serve a purpose for Mars, or only LEO/Earth-to-Earth?
(In this question, Starship refers to the reusable 2nd stage, not the full stack w/ Super Heavy).
I was thinking about it the other day, and I realized that I'm not sure a reusable Starship actually ...
- 429
30
votes
6
answers
12k
views
Isn't Starship way too big?
The Shuttle was designed with a huge payload of 20 tons. This was supposed to not be a problem since:
the reusability would drive down costs until satellite operators dropped expensive space hardware ...
7
votes
1
answer
522
views
How did the SpaceX come up with such a disruptive design in the Falcon 9?
Because of the answers to Why has a rocket system like Starship never been proposed before?
, now I need to ask something I'd always taken for granted.
If Falcon 9 wasn't revolutionary for technical ...
- 21.4k
34
votes
8
answers
9k
views
Why not land SpaceX's Starship like a plane?
I get the reasoning behind designing Starship to land upright. It doesn't require landing gear and the turnaround is expected to be much faster. But I'm beginning to question that logic.
I think the ...
- 457