1.
Orbital spaceflight
–
An orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a trajectory which has an altitude at perigee above 100 kilometers, this is, by at least one convention. To remain in orbit at this altitude requires a speed of ~7.8 km/s. Orbital speed is slower for higher orbits, but attaining them requires greater delta-v, the expression orbital spaceflight is mostly used to distinguish from sub-orbital spaceflights, which are flights where the apogee of a spacecraft reaches space, but the perigee is too low. Orbital spaceflight from Earth has only achieved by launch vehicles that use rocket engines for propulsion. To reach orbit, the rocket must impart to the payload a delta-v of about 9. 3–10 km/s and this figure is mainly for horizontal acceleration needed to reach orbital speed, but allows for atmospheric drag, gravity losses, and gaining altitude. Currently, 2-4 stages are needed to achieve the required delta-v, most launches are by expendable launch systems. The Pegasus rocket for small satellites instead launches from an aircraft at an altitude of 12 km, there have been many proposed methods for achieving orbital spaceflight that have the potential of being much more affordable than rockets. Some of these such as the space elevator, and rotovator. Gun launch has been proposed for cargo, an object in orbit at an altitude of less than roughly 200 km is considered unstable due to atmospheric drag. For a satellite to be in an orbit,350 km is a more standard altitude for low Earth orbit. For example, on 1958-02-01 the Explorer 1 satellite was launched into an orbit with a perigee of 358 kilometers and it remained in orbit for more than 12 years before its atmospheric reentry over the Pacific Ocean on 1970-03-31. However, the behaviour of objects in orbit depends on altitude, their ballistic coefficient. There are three bands of orbit around the Earth, low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit. Due to Orbital mechanics orbits are in a particular, largely fixed plane around the Earth, which coincides with the center of the Earth, NASA provides real-time tracking of the over 500 artificial satellites maintained in orbit around Earth. For the position of these satellites see NASA satellite tracking, in spaceflight, an orbital maneuver is the use of propulsion systems to change the orbit of a spacecraft. For spacecraft far from Earth—for example those in orbits around the Sun—an orbital maneuver is called a deep-space maneuver, returning spacecraft have to find a way of slowing down as much as possible while still in higher atmospheric layers and avoid hitting the ground or burning up. For many orbital space flights, initial deceleration is provided by the retrofiring of the rocket engines
Orbital spaceflight
–
The
International Space Station during its construction in
Earth orbit in 2001. It must be periodically re-boosted to maintain its orbit
Orbital spaceflight
–
Space Shuttle Discovery rockets to orbital velocity, seen here just after booster separation
Orbital spaceflight
–
General
2.
Launch vehicle
–
In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from Earths surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad, Earth orbital launch vehicles typically have at least two stages, and sometimes as many as four or more. Expendable launch vehicles are designed for one-time use and they usually separate from their payload and disintegrate during atmospheric reentry. In contrast, reusable vehicles are designed to be recovered intact. The Space Shuttle was a part of a vehicle with components used for multiple orbital spaceflights. SpaceX has developed a rocket launching system to successfully bring back a part—the first stage—of their Falcon 9. A fully reusable VTVL design is planned for all parts of the ITS launch vehicle, Launch vehicles are often classified by the amount of mass they can carry into orbit. For example, a Proton rocket can lift 22,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit, Launch vehicles are also characterized by their number of stages. Rockets with as many as five stages have been successfully launched, additionally, launch vehicles are very often supplied with boosters supplying high early thrust, normally burning with other engines. Boosters allow the engines to be smaller, reducing the burnout mass of later stages to allow larger payloads. Other frequently reported characteristics of vehicles are the launching nation or space agency. For example, the European Space Agency is responsible for the Ariane V, many launch vehicles are considered part of a historical line of vehicles of same or similar name, e. g. the Atlas V is the latest Atlas rocket. A small-lift launch vehicle is capable of lifting up to 2,000 kg of payload into low Earth orbit, a medium-lift launch vehicle is capable of lifting 2,000 to 20,000 kg of payload into LEO. A heavy-lift launch vehicle is capable of lifting 20,000 to 50,000 kg of payload into LEO, a super-heavy lift vehicle is capable of lifting more than 50,000 kg of payload into LEO. It refers to its 1,500 kg to LEO Vega launch vehicle as light lift, sounding rockets have long been used for brief, inexpensive unmanned space and microgravity experiments. Current human-rated suborbital launch vehicles include SpaceShipOne and the upcoming SpaceShipTwo, minimizing air drag requires a reasonably high ballistic coefficient, a ratio of length to diameter greater than ten. This generally results in a vehicle that is at least 20 m long. Leaving the atmosphere as early on in the flight as possible provides a velocity loss due to air drag of around 300 m/s, Launch vehicles of sufficient size are capable of launching payloads smaller than their orbital capability, to the Moon or beyond
Launch vehicle
–
Russian
Soyuz TMA-5 lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan heading for the
ISS
Launch vehicle
–
A
Saturn V launch vehicle sends
Apollo 15 on its way to the Moon.
Launch vehicle
–
Ukrainian launch vehicle
Zenit-2 is prepared for launch
Launch vehicle
–
General
3.
SpaceX
–
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, better known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs, SpaceX has since developed the Falcon launch vehicle family and the Dragon spacecraft family, which both currently deliver payloads into Earth orbit. As of March 2017, SpaceX has since flown ten missions to the International Space Station under a cargo resupply contract, SpaceX announced in 2011 they were beginning a privately funded reusable launch system technology development program. In December 2015, a first stage was flown back to a landing pad near the launch site and this was the first such achievement by a rocket for orbital spaceflight. In April 2016, with the launch of CRS-8, SpaceX successfully vertically landed a first stage on an ocean drone-ship landing platform, in May 2016, in another first, SpaceX again landed a first stage, but during a significantly more energetic geostationary transfer orbit mission. In March 2017, SpaceX became the first to successfully re-launch and this is the main purpose this System was designed for. In February 2017, Elon Musk announced that the company had contracted by two private individuals to send them in a Dragon spacecraft on a free return trajectory around the Moon. Provisionally launching in 2018, this may become the first instance of lunar tourism. Musk tried to buy cheap rockets from Russia, but returned empty-handed after failing to find rockets for an affordable price, on the flight home, Musk realized that he could start a company that could build the affordable rockets he needed. According to early Tesla and SpaceX investor Steve Jurvetson, Musk calculated that the raw materials for building a rocket actually were only 3 percent of the price of a rocket at the time. SpaceX started with the smallest useful orbital rocket, instead of building a complex and riskier launch vehicle. In early 2002, Musk was seeking staff for his new space company, Musk approached renowned rocket engineer Tom Mueller and Mueller agreed to work for Musk, and thus SpaceX was born. SpaceX was first headquartered in a warehouse in El Segundo, California, the company has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2002, growing from 160 employees in 2005 to nearly 5,000 in late 2015 and February 2016. At year-end 2012, SpaceX had over 40 launches on its manifest representing about $4 billion in contract revenue, the contracts included both commercial and government customers. As of December 2013, SpaceX had a total of 50 future launches under contract, Musk has stated that one of his goals is to improve the cost and reliability of access to space, ultimately by a factor of ten. CEO Elon Musk said, I believe $500 per pound or less is very achievable, a major goal of SpaceX has been to develop a rapidly reusable launch system. Musk stated in a 2011 interview that he hopes to send humans to Mars surface within 10–20 years, in 2010, Musks calculations convinced him that the colonization of Mars was possible. After completing its primary burn, the first stage of the rocket detached from the second stage as usual
SpaceX
–
The company's headquarters, located in
Hawthorne, California.
SpaceX
–
SpaceX employees with the Dragon capsule at SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, California, February, 2015.
SpaceX
–
Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket cores under construction at the SpaceX Hawthorne facility, November 2014.
SpaceX
–
SpaceX McGregor engine test bunker, September 2012
4.
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
–
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Commands 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida, CCAFS is the primary head of Americas Eastern Range with three launch pads currently active. The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Skid Strip provides a 10, 000-foot runway close to the launch complexes for military airlift aircraft delivering heavy, a number of American space exploration firsts were launched from CCAFS, including the first U. S. Earth satellite, first U. S. astronaut, first U. S. astronaut in orbit, first two-man U. S. spacecraft, first U. S. unmanned lunar landing, and first three-man U. S. spacecraft. The CCAFS area had used by the United States government to test missiles since 1949. On June 1,1948, the U. S. Navy transferred the former Banana River Naval Air Station to the U. S. Air Force, with USAF renaming the facility the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base on June 10,1949. On October 1,1949, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base was transferred from the Air Materiel Command to the Air Force Division of the Joint Long Range Proving Ground. On May 17,1950, the base was renamed the Long Range Proving Ground Base, in 1951, the Air Force established the Air Force Missile Test Center. Early American sub-orbital rocket flights were achieved at Cape Canaveral in 1956 and these flights occurred shortly after sub-orbital flights launched from White Sands Missile Range, such as the Viking 12 sounding rocket on February 4,1955. Following the Soviet Unions successful Sputnik 1, the US attempted its first launch of a satellite from Cape Canaveral on December 6,1957. However, the rocket carrying Vanguard TV3 blew up on the launch pad, NASA was founded in 1958, and Air Force crews launched missiles for NASA from the Cape, known then as Cape Canaveral Missile Annex. The row of Titan and Atlas launch pads along the coast came to be known as Missile Row in the 1960s, nASAs first manned spaceflight program was prepared for launch from Canaveral by U. S. Air Force crews. Mercurys objectives were to place a spacecraft in Earth orbit, investigate human performance and ability to function in space. Suborbital flights were launched by derivatives of the Armys Redstone missile from LC-5, Orbital flights were launched by derivatives of the Air Forces larger Atlas D missile from LC-14. The first American in orbit was John Glenn on February 20,1962, three more orbital flights followed through May 1963. Flight control for all Mercury missions was provided at the Mercury Control Center located at Canaveral near LC-14 and he had also convinced Gov. C. Farris Bryant to change the name of Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy and this resulted in some confusion in public perception, which conflated the two. This name was used through the Gemini and early Apollo programs, however, the geographical name change proved to be unpopular, owing to the historical longevity of Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
–
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
–
A
Bumper V-2 was the first missile launched at Cape Canaveral, on July 24, 1950.
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
–
Alan Shepard watches Gus Grissom's
Liberty Bell 7 launch in the Mercury Control Center
5.
SLC-40
–
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40, previously Launch Complex 40 is a launch pad for rockets located at the north end of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch pad was used by the United States Air Force for 55 Titan III, after 2007, the US Air Force leased the complex to Space Exploration Technologies to launch the Falcon 9 rocket. As of August 2016, there have been twenty-five launches of the Falcon 9 from the complex, the first launch from LC-40 was the maiden flight of the Titan IIIC, carrying two transtage upper stages to test the functionality of the vehicle. The final Titan launch from SLC-40 was the Lacrosse-5 reconnaissance satellite carried on a Titan IV-B on April 30,2005, the tower was disassembled during late 2007 and early 2008. Demolition of the Mobile Service Structure, by means of an explosion, occurred on April 27,2008, by Controlled Demolition. On April 25,2007, the US Air Force leased the complex to SpaceX to launch the Falcon 9 rocket, during April 2008, construction started on the ground facilities necessary to support the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Renovations included installation of new liquid oxygen and kerosene tanks and construction of a hangar for rocket, the first Falcon 9 rocket arrived at SLC-40 in late 2008, and was first erected on January 10,2009. It successfully reached orbit on its launch on June 4,2010. SpaceX successfully launched the first test flight for the Dragon from SLC-40 on December 8,2010 and its first attempt to launch to and dock with the International Space Station successfully occurred on May 22,2012, following an abort after engine ignition three days earlier. On September 1,2016 a Falcon 9 rocket was destroyed by an explosion that originated around the second stage in the process of running a routine static fire test on the SLC-40 launch pad. The explosion occurred during loading of LOX eight minutes prior to first stage engine ignition as part of the test, subsequent to the explosion, this test event is reclassified as a Catastrophic Anomaly Test. A static fire is a test performed prior to launch to verify that the vehicle is ready for flight. The test is identical to a launch until the moment of liftoff but instead of releasing the vehicle shortly after first stage engine ignition, the second stage is fueled to test the interaction with the first stage but remains otherwise inactive. Static fire tests are not common for most rocket launches these days, SpaceX does them to make sure the vehicle works as advertised. The explosion resulted in a loss of the rocket. The payload, an AMOS-6 satellite, was integrated with the vehicle at the time and was destroyed, furthermore, the explosion caused extensive damage to the launch pad and was reported to have cracked nearby windows and to have been felt up to 40 miles away from the pad. There were no personnel on the pad and no injuries from the explosion were reported, repairs and modernization of the launch pad are underway with a return to service planned for August 2017. The initial launch of Falcon Heavy is contingent upon the completion of these repairs
SLC-40
–
SLC-40 in May 2012 with
Falcon 9 rocket carrying
Dragon C2+
SLC-40
–
A
Titan IV rocket with the
Cassini–Huygens payload at SLC-40 in 1997
SLC-40
–
Space Launch Complex 40 with Titan rocket mobile service tower in 2008, prior to demolition to prepare for the construction of the SpaceX Falcon launch pad.
SLC-40
–
LC 40 with SpaceX Falcon 9 launch infrastructure, February 2015
6.
Kennedy Space Center
–
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is one of ten National Aeronautics and Space Administration field centers. Since December 1968, Kennedy Space Center has been NASAs primary launch center of human spaceflight, Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources, and even own facilities on each others property. Additionally, the center manages launch of robotic and commercial missions, researches food production and In-Situ Resource Utilization for off Earth exploration. Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user spaceport through industry partnerships, there are about 700 facilities grouped across the centers 144,000 acres. There is also a Visitor Complex open to the public on site, the military had been performing launch operations since 1949 at what would become Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. In December 1959, the Department of Defense transferred 5,000 personnel, President John F. Kennedys 1961 goal of a manned lunar landing before 1970 required an expansion of launch operations. On July 1,1962, the Launch Operations Directorate was separated from MSFC to become the Launch Operations Center, therefore, the decision was made to build a new LOC site located adjacent to Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island. NASA began land acquisition in 1962, buying title to 131 square miles, the major buildings in KSCs Industrial Area were designed by architect Charles Luckman. Construction began in November 1962, and Kennedy visited the site twice in 1962, on November 29,1963, the facility was given its current name by President Lyndon B. Johnson under Executive Order 11129. Johnsons order joined both the civilian LOC and the military Cape Canaveral station under the designation John F. Kennedy Space Center, spawning some confusion joining the two in the public mind. Located on Merritt Island, Florida, the center is north-northwest of Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic Ocean and it is 34 miles long and roughly six miles wide, covering 219 square miles. KSC is a major central Florida tourist destination and is one hours drive from the Orlando area. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex offers public tours of the center, Center workers can encounter bald eagles, American alligators, wild boars, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, the endangered Florida panther and Florida manatees. From 1967 through 1973, there were 13 Saturn V launches, the first of two unmanned flights, Apollo 4 on November 9,1967, was also the first rocket launch from KSC. The Saturn Vs first manned launch on December 21,1968 was Apollo 8s lunar orbiting mission, the next two missions tested the Lunar Module, Apollo 9 and Apollo 10. Apollo 11, launched from Pad A on July 16,1969, Apollo 12 followed four months later. From 1970–1972, the Apollo program concluded at KSC with the launches of missions 13 through 17, on May 14,1973, the last Saturn V launch put the Skylab space station in orbit from Pad 39A
Kennedy Space Center
–
Aerial view of
KSC Headquarters looking south
Kennedy Space Center
–
KSC shown in white;
CCAFS in green
Kennedy Space Center
–
A Saturn V carrying
Apollo 15 rolls out to Pad 39A in 1971 on
Mobile Launch Platform 1.
Kennedy Space Center
–
Shuttle Discovery launching from Pad 39A on
STS-60, February 3, 1994
7.
Launch Complex 39
–
Launch Complex 39 is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were built for the Apollo program. As of 2017, only Launch Complex 39A is active, launching SpaceXs Falcon 9. LC-39 is also being modified to support launches of the SpaceXs Dragon 2 and Falcon Heavy, as well as NASAs Space Launch System, with a new, smaller pad, C, added to support smaller launches. SpaceX leases Launch Pad 39A from NASA and has modified the pad to support Falcon Heavy launches in 2017 and beyond. NASA began modifying Launch Pad 39B in 2007 to accommodate the now defunct Project Constellation, Pad C was originally planned but never built for Apollo, and would have been a copy of pads 39A and 39B. A smaller pad, designated 39C was constructed from January to June 2015 to accommodate small-class vehicles, NASA launches from LC-39A and 39B have been supervised from the NASA Launch Control Center, located 3 miles from the launch pads. LC-39 is one of launch sites that share radar and tracking services of the Eastern Test Range. During the 1920s, Peter E. Studebaker Jr. son of the automobile magnate, in 1948, the Navy transferred the former Banana River Naval Air Station located south of Cape Canaveral, to the Air Force for use in testing captured German V-2 rockets. The sites location on the East Florida coast was ideal for this purpose in that launches would be over the ocean and this site became the Joint Long Range Proving Ground in 1949, and was renamed Patrick Air Force Base in 1950. The Air Force annexed part of Cape Canaveral to the North in 1951, forming the Air Force Missile Test Center, Missile and rocketry testing and development would take place here through the 1950s. After the creation of NASA in 1958, the CCAFS launch pads were used for NASAs civilian unmanned and manned launches, including those of Project Mercury, in 1961, President Kennedy proposed to Congress the goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. NASA began acquisition of land in 1962, taking title to 131 square miles by outright purchase, on July 1,1962, the site was named the Launch Operations Center. At the time, the highest numbered launch pad on CCAFS was Launch Complex 37 and it was designed to handle launches of the Saturn V rocket, at the time the largest, most powerful rocket then designed, required to take Apollo to the Moon. Initial plans included four pads evenly spaced 8,700 feet apart to damage in the event of an explosion on the pad. Three were scheduled for construction and two would have built at a later date. The numbering of the pads at the time was from north to south, with the northernmost being 39A, Pad 39A was never built, and 39C became 39A in 1963. With todays numbering, 39C would have been north of 39B, Pad 39E would have been due north of the mid-distance between 39C and 39D, with 39E forming the top of a triangle, and equidistant from 39C and 39D
Launch Complex 39
–
An aerial view of Launch Complex 39
Launch Complex 39
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Apollo-Saturn 506 with Apollo 11 spacecraft being moved from the VAB to LC39A
Launch Complex 39
–
Apollo era walkway and
white room, on display at
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Launch Complex 39
–
Warning lamps showing the planned 3 pads including the unbuilt Pad C
8.
Vandenberg Air Force Base
–
Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base 9.2 miles northwest of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command, Vandenberg AFB is a Department of Defense space and missile testing base, with a mission of placing satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast using expendable boosters. Wing personnel also support the Services LGM-30G Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force Development Evaluation program, in addition to its military mission, the base also leases launch pad facilities to SpaceX, as well as 100 acres leased to the California Spaceport in 1995. Established in 1941, the base is named in honor of former Air Force Chief of Staff General Hoyt Vandenberg, the host unit at Vandenberg AFB is the 30th Space Wing. The 30th SW is home to the Western Range, manages Department of Defense space and missile testing, Wing personnel also support the Air Forces Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force Development Test and Evaluation program. The Western Range begins at the boundaries of Vandenberg and extends westward from the California coast to the Western Pacific. Operations involve dozens of federal and commercial interests, the wing is organized into operations, launch, mission support and medical groups, along with several directly assigned staff agencies. 30th Launch Group The 30th Launch Group is responsible for booster and satellite technical oversight and launch processing activities to launch, integration. The group consists of a military, civilian and contractor team with more than 250 personnel directly supporting operations from the Western Range. 1st Air and Space Test Squadron 4th Space Launch Squadron 30th Operations Group The 30th Operations Group provides the capability for West Coast spacelift. Operations professionals are responsible for operating and maintaining the Western Range for spacelift, missile test launch, aeronautical, 30th Mission Support Group The 30th Mission Support Group supports the third largest Air Force Base in the United States. It is also responsible for quality-of-life needs, housing, personnel, services, civil engineering, contracting, 30th Medical Group The 30th Medical Group provides medical, dental, bio-environmental and public health services for people assigned to Vandenberg Air Force Base, their families and retirees. It is Vandenbergs only National Historic Landmark that is open for scheduled tours through the 30th Space Wings Public Affairs office. The current display area is made up of two exhibits, the Chronology of the Cold War and the Evolution of Technology, there are plans to evolve the center in stages from the current exhibit areas as restorations of additional facilities are completed. In 1941 the United States Army sought more and better training centers for the development of its armored. In March 1941, the Army acquired approximately 86,000 acres of open ranch lands along the Central Coast of California between Lompoc and Santa Maria, most of the land was purchased. Smaller parcels were obtained either by lease, license, or as easements, with its flat plateau, surrounding hills, numerous canyons, and relative remoteness from populated areas, the Army was convinced it had found the ideal training location. Construction of the Army camp began in September 1941, although its completion was still months away, the Army activated the camp on 5 October, and named it Camp Cooke in honor of Major General Phillip St. George Cooke
Vandenberg Air Force Base
–
Titan IV rocket launch from Space Launch Complex-4 East, Vandenberg AFB, 19 October 2005
Vandenberg Air Force Base
–
Joint Functional Component Command for Space
Vandenberg Air Force Base
–
30th Operations Group
Vandenberg Air Force Base
–
4th Space Launch Squadron
9.
Merlin 1D
–
Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles. SpaceX also plans to use Merlin engines on its Falcon Heavy, Merlin engines use RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle. The Merlin engine was designed for sea recovery and reuse. The injector at the heart of Merlin is of the type that was first used in the Apollo program for the lunar module landing engine. Propellants are fed via a shaft, dual impeller turbopump. The turbo-pump also provides high pressure fluid for the hydraulic actuators and this eliminates the need for a separate hydraulic drive system and means that thrust vectoring control failure by running out of hydraulic fluid is not possible. Three versions of the Merlin 1C engine have been produced, the Merlin engine for Falcon 1 had a movable turbo-pump exhaust assembly which was used to provide roll control by vectoring the exhaust. The Merlin 1C engine for the Falcon 9 first stage is identical to the variant used for the Falcon 1 except that the turbo-pump exhaust assembly is not movable. Finally, a Merlin 1C vacuum variant is used on the Falcon 9 second stage and this engine differs from the Falcon 9 first stage variant in that it uses a larger exhaust nozzle optimized for vacuum operation and can be throttled between 60 and 100 percent. The initial version, the Merlin 1A, used an inexpensive, expendable, ablatively cooled carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer composite nozzle, and produced 340 kN of thrust. The Merlin 1A flew only twice, First on March 24,2006, when it caught fire and failed due to a leak shortly after launch, and the second time on March 21,2007. Both times the Merlin 1A was mounted on a Falcon 1 first stage, the Merlin 1A turbopump used a unique friction-welded main shaft, with Inconel 718 ends and an integral aluminum RP-1 impeller in the middle. The turbopump housing was constructed using investment castings, with Inconel at the end, aluminum in the center. The turbine was a partial-admission impulse design and turned at up to 20,000 rpm, the Merlin 1B rocket engine was an upgraded version of the Merlin 1A engine. The turbopump upgrades were handled by Barber-Nichols, Inc. for SpaceX, the Merlin 1B was enhanced over the 1A with a turbine upgrade, increasing power output from 1,500 kW to 1,900 kW. The turbine upgrade was accomplished by adding additional nozzles, turning the previously partial-admission design to full-admission, slightly enlarged impellers for both RP-1 and LOX were part of the upgrade. This model turned at a faster 22,000 rpm and developed higher discharge pressures, turbopump weight was unchanged at 150 lb. Another notable change over the 1A was the move to TEA-TEB ignition over torch ignition, initial use of the Merlin 1B was to be on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, on whose first stage there would have been a cluster of nine of these engines
Merlin 1D
–
Test firing at SpaceX McGregor's test stand of the Merlin 1D
Merlin 1D
–
Merlin 1C under construction at SpaceX factory
Merlin 1D
–
Merlin 1D flight hardware (foreground) and octaweb engine harness (background), June 2013, on the manufacturing floor in
Hawthorne, California.
10.
LOX
–
Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is one of the physical forms of elemental oxygen. Liquid oxygen has a blue color and is strongly paramagnetic. Liquid oxygen has a density of 1.141 g/cm3 and is cryogenic with a point of 54.36 K. Because of its nature, liquid oxygen can cause the materials it touches to become extremely brittle. Liquid oxygen is also a powerful oxidizing agent, organic materials will burn rapidly and energetically in liquid oxygen. Further, if soaked in liquid oxygen, some such as coal briquettes, carbon black, etc. can detonate unpredictably from sources of ignition such as flames. Petrochemicals, including asphalt, often exhibit this behavior, the tetraoxygen molecule was first predicted in 1924 by Gilbert N. Lewis, who proposed it to explain why liquid oxygen defied Curies law. Modern computer simulations indicate that there are no stable O4 molecules in liquid oxygen, O2 molecules do tend to associate in pairs with antiparallel spins. Conversely, liquid nitrogen or liquid air can be oxygen-enriched by letting it stand in air, atmospheric oxygen dissolves in it. In commerce, liquid oxygen is classified as a gas and is widely used for industrial and medical purposes. Liquid oxygen is obtained from the oxygen found naturally in air by fractional distillation in an air separation plant. Liquid oxygen is a cryogenic liquid oxidizer propellant for spacecraft rocket applications, usually in combination with liquid hydrogen. Liquid oxygen is useful in this role because it creates a specific impulse. It was used in the very first rocket applications like the V2 missile and Redstone, R-7 Semyorka, Atlas boosters, many modern rockets use liquid oxygen, including the main engines on the now-retired Space Shuttle. U. S. Army has long recognized the importance of liquid oxygen. In 1985 it started a program of building its own facilities at all major consumption bases. By 1845, Michael Faraday had managed to liquefy most gases then known to exist, six gases, however, resisted every attempt at liquefaction and were known at the time as permanent gases. They were oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, in 1877, Louis Paul Cailletet in France and Raoul Pictet in Switzerland succeeded in producing the first droplets of liquid air
LOX
–
Portable container for transport of liquid oxygen
LOX
11.
Falcon 9
–
Falcon 9 is a family of two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicles, named for its use of nine first-stage engines, designed and manufactured by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 versions are the Falcon 9 v1.0, Falcon 9 v1.1, and the current Falcon 9 Full Thrust, both stages are powered by rocket engines that burn liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants. The first stage is designed to be reusable, while the stage is not. The Falcon 9 versions are in the medium-lift to heavy-lift range of launch systems, the current Falcon 9 can lift payloads of up to 22,800 kilograms to low Earth orbit, and up to 8,300 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit. The first commercial mission to the ISS launched in October 2012. The initial version 1.0 design made five flights before it was retired in 2013, the version 1.1 design made a total of 15 flights beginning in 2013 before it was retired in January 2016. SpaceX has been flying an improved version with 30 percent higher performance —Falcon 9 Full Thrust—since December 2015 on the 20th Falcon 9 launch. This followed the 2013 upgrade which was 60 percent heavier —Falcon 9 v1. 1—that flew from September 2013 on the 6th Falcon 9 launch, Falcon 9 Full Thrust will be the base for the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. Elon Musk announced that there will be an upgrade to the Falcon 9. This upgrade will increase the thrust on the engines to the maximum they can produce. There will also be some improvements to help recovery and reuse. This started with seed money from the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program in 2006, the contract was structured as a Space Act Agreement to develop and demonstrate commercial orbital transportation service including the purchase of three demonstration flights. The overall contract award was US$278 million to provide development funding for Dragon, Falcon 9, in 2011 additional milestones were added, bringing the total contract value to US$396 million. The space logistics delivery contract was worth US$1.6 billion for a minimum of 12 missions to carry supplies to, Musk has repeatedly said that, without the NASA money, development would have taken longer. SpaceX would like to extend a special thanks to the NASA COTS office for their continued support, the COTS program has demonstrated the power of a true private/public partnership and we look forward to the exciting endeavors our team will accomplish in the future. In 2011, SpaceX estimated that Falcon 9 v1.0 development costs were on the order of $300 million, NASA evaluated that development costs would have been $3.6 billion if a traditional cost-plus contract approach had been used. In 2014, SpaceX released total combined development costs for both the Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule, NASA provided US$396 million while SpaceX provided over US$450 million to fund rocket and capsule development efforts. SpaceX originally intended to follow its light Falcon 1 launch vehicle with an intermediate capacity vehicle, in 2005, SpaceX announced it was instead proceeding with development of the Falcon 9, a fully reusable heavy lift launch vehicle, and had already secured a government customer
Falcon 9
–
A Falcon 9 v1.1 carrying a
Dragon cargo spacecraft
Falcon 9
–
From left to right,
Falcon 1,
Falcon 9 v1.0, three versions of
Falcon 9 v1.1, and two versions of
Falcon Heavy (not all versions have flown)
Falcon 9
–
Falcon 9 rocket cores under construction at the SpaceX Hawthorne facility.
Falcon 9
–
A Falcon 9 v1.0 launches with an uncrewed
Dragon spacecraft, 2012
12.
Gwynne Shotwell
–
Gwynne Shotwell is an American businesswoman. She is the President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX, a United States corporation providing space transport services to government and commercial customers. As of 2016, she is listed as the 76th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes, Shotwell was born in Libertyville, Illinois. She received, with honors, a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Shotwell originally planned to work in the automotive industry and was enrolled in Chrysler Corporations management training program but did not remain in that industry. In 1988, she work at the El Segundo research center of The Aerospace Corporation. Wanting to build, and put together, in 1998 she left the Aerospace Corp. to become director of the space systems division at Microcosm Inc. She is now President and COO of SpaceX and is responsible for the operations and for managing all customer. Shotwell participates in a variety of STEM fields related programs, including the Frank J. Redd Student Scholarship Competition, under her leadership the committee raised more than $350,000 in scholarships in 6 years. Shotwell gave a TEDx Talk at TEDxChapmanU in June 2013 on the importance of science, technology, engineering,2012, Women in Technology International Hall of Fame As of 2016, she is listed as the 76th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. Gwynne Shotwell comments at Commercial Space Transportation Conference and you know, I dont think you get that kind of thrill in banking
Gwynne Shotwell
–
Gwynne Shotwell at pre-launch briefing for CRS-2 mission
13.
Angle of attack
–
In fluid dynamics, angle of attack is the angle between a reference line on a body and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is moving. Angle of attack is the angle between the reference line and the oncoming flow. This article focuses on the most common application, the angle of attack of a wing or airfoil moving through air, since a wing can have twist, a chord line of the whole wing may not be definable, so an alternate reference line is simply defined. Often, the line of the root of the wing is chosen as the reference line. Another choice is to use a line on the fuselage as the reference line. Some authors do not use a chord line, but use the zero lift axis. Some British authors have used the angle of incidence instead of angle of attack. However, this can lead to confusion with the term angle of incidence meaning the angle between the chord of an airfoil and some fixed datum in the airplane. The lift coefficient of a fixed-wing aircraft varies with angle of attack, increasing angle of attack is associated with increasing lift coefficient up to the maximum lift coefficient, after which lift coefficient decreases. The figure shows a curve for a cambered straight wing. A symmetrical wing has zero lift at 0 degrees angle of attack, the lift curve is also influenced by the wing shape, including its airfoil section and wing planform. A swept wing has a lower, flatter curve with a critical angle. The critical angle of attack is the angle of attack which produces maximum lift coefficient and this is also called the stall angle of attack. Below the critical angle of attack, as the angle of attack increases, conversely, above the critical angle of attack, as angle of attack increases, the air begins to flow less smoothly over the upper surface of the airfoil and begins to separate from the upper surface. On most airfoil shapes, as the angle of attack increases, at the critical angle of attack, upper surface flow is more separated and the airfoil or wing is producing its maximum coefficient of lift. As angle of attack increases further, the surface flow becomes more and more fully separated. Above this critical angle of attack, the aircraft is said to be in a stall, a fixed-wing aircraft by definition is stalled at or above the critical angle of attack rather than at or below a particular airspeed. The airspeed at which the aircraft stalls varies with the weight of the aircraft, the load factor, however the aircraft always stalls at the same critical angle of attack
Angle of attack
–
Angle of attack of an airfoil
Angle of attack
–
Platform Angle of Attack
14.
Grid fins
–
Grid fins are a type of flight control surface used on rockets and bombs, sometimes in place of more conventional control surfaces, such as planar fins. They have been used since the 1970s in various Soviet ballistic missile designs such as the SS-12 Scaleboard, SS-20 Saber, SS-21 Scarab, SS-23 Spider, and SS-25 Sickle, as well as the N-1. In Russia, they are referred to as Belotserkovskiy grid fins after Russian computational mechanician Sergey Belotserkovskiy. They have also used on specialized devices such as the Quick-MEDS delivery system. Conventional planar control fins are shaped like miniature wings, by contrast, grid fins are a lattice of smaller aerodynamic surfaces arranged within a box. Their appearance has led them to be compared to potato mashers or waffle irons. Generally, the grid fins pitch forward/backward away from the body shortly after the missile has cleared the firing craft, in the case of the MOAB, grid fins allow the weapon to fit inside a C-130 cargo bay for deployment while the craft is in flight. Grid fins have a shorter chord than planar fins, as they are effectively a group of short fins mounted parallel to one another. Their reduced chord reduces the amount of torque exerted on the mechanism by high-speed airflow, allowing for the use of smaller fin actuators. At high Mach numbers, grid fins flow fully supersonic and can provide lower drag, spaceX Falcon 9-R — Grid fins are being used for increased precision in control of the landing location for reusable launch vehicles. A development program is underway, and the first flight test with grid fins was in February 2015
Grid fins
–
The
Vympel R-77 is a
BVRAAM that uses grid fins. The gray KAB-500 OD guided bomb to its left has conventional "planar" tail fins.
Grid fins
–
Closeup of
MOAB grid fins
Grid fins
–
Grid fins (here folded against the
payload fairing) are part of the
launch escape system of
Soyuz spacecraft.
Grid fins
–
Grid fins stowed against the base of an
SS-20 ballistic missile
15.
Iridium NEXT
–
The Iridium satellite constellation is a satellite constellation providing voice and data coverage to satellite phones, pagers and integrated transceivers over the Earths entire surface. Iridium Communications owns and operates the constellation and sells equipment and access to its services, the constellation consists of 66 active satellites in orbit required for global coverage, and additional spare satellites to serve in case of failure. Satellites are in low Earth orbit at a height of approximately 485 mi, orbital velocity of the satellites is approximately 17,000 mph. Satellites communicate with neighboring satellites via Ka band inter-satellite links, each satellite can have four inter-satellite links, two to neighbors fore and aft in the same orbital plane, and two to satellites in neighboring planes to either side. The satellites orbit from pole to pole with an orbital period of roughly 100 minutes. This design means there is excellent satellite visibility and service coverage even at the North and South poles. The over-the-pole orbital design produces seams where satellites in counter-rotating planes next to one another are traveling in opposite directions, the constellation of 66 active satellites has 6 orbital planes spaced 30 degrees apart, with 11 satellites in each plane. This reduced set of 6 planes is sufficient to cover the entire Earths surface at every moment, because of the shape of the Iridium satellites reflective antennas, the satellites focus sunlight on a small area of the Earths surface in an incidental manner. This results in an effect called Iridium flares, where the satellite appears as one of the brightest objects in the night sky. The Iridium satellite constellation was conceived in the early 1990s, as a way to reach high Earth latitudes with reliable satellite communication services, early calculations showed that 77 satellites would be needed, hence the name Iridium – after the metal with atomic number 77. It turned out that just 66 were required to complete the blanket coverage of the planet with communication services, the constellation was launched to orbit in the late 1990s and the first telephone call was made over the network in 1998. However, although the system met its requirements, it was not a success in the market. Insufficient market demand existed for the product at the points on offer from Iridium as set by its parent company Motorola. The company failed to earn revenue sufficient to service the debt associated with building out the constellation and Iridium went bankrupt, the constellation continued following the bankruptcy of the original Iridium corporation. Users include journalists, explorers, and military units, the satellites each contain seven Motorola/Freescale PowerPC 603E processors running at roughly 200 MHz, connected by a custom backplane network. One processor is dedicated to each antenna, and two processors are dedicated to satellite control, one being a spare. Late in the project an extra processor was added to perform resource management, the cellular look down antenna has 48 spot beams arranged as 16 beams in three sectors. The four inter-satellite cross links on each operate at 10 Mbit/s
Iridium NEXT
–
Replica of an Iridium satellite
16.
Atmospheric entry
–
Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet or natural satellite. Technologies and procedures allowing the atmospheric entry, descent and landing of spacecraft are collectively abbreviated as EDL. Atmospheric drag and aerodynamic heating can cause atmospheric breakup capable of completely disintegrating smaller objects and these forces may cause objects with lower compressive strength to explode. Manned space vehicles must be slowed to subsonic speeds before parachutes or air brakes may be deployed, such vehicles have kinetic energies typically between 50 and 1800 MJoules, and atmospheric dissipation is the only way of expending the kinetic energy. While the high temperature generated at the surface of the shield is due to adiabatic compression. Other smaller energy losses include black body radiation directly from the hot gasses, ballistic warheads and expendable vehicles do not require slowing at re-entry, and in fact, are made streamlined so as to maintain their speed. Uncontrolled, objects accelerate through the atmosphere at extreme velocities under the influence of Earths gravity, most controlled objects enter at hypersonic speeds due to their suborbital, orbital, or unbounded trajectories. Various advanced technologies have developed to enable atmospheric reentry and flight at extreme velocities. Practical development of systems began as the range and reentry velocity of ballistic missiles increased. For early short-range missiles, like the V-2, stabilization and aerodynamic stress were important issues, medium-range missiles like the Soviet R-5, with a 1200 km range, required ceramic composite heat shielding on separable reentry vehicles. The first ICBMs, with ranges of 8000 to 12,000 km, were possible with the development of modern ablative heat shields. In the U. S. this technology was pioneered by H. Julian Allen at Ames Research Center, over the decades since the 1950s, a rich technical jargon has grown around the engineering of vehicles designed to enter planetary atmospheres. It is recommended that the review the jargon glossary before continuing with this article on atmospheric reentry. When atmospheric entry is part of a landing or recovery, particularly on a planetary body other than Earth, entry is part of a phase referred to as entry, descent and landing. When the atmospheric entry returns to the body that the vehicle had launched from. These four shadowgraph images represent early reentry-vehicle concepts, if the reentry vehicle is made blunt, air cannot get out of the way quickly enough, and acts as an air cushion to push the shock wave and heated shock layer forward. Since most of the hot gases are no longer in contact with the vehicle. The Allen and Eggers discovery, though initially treated as a secret, was eventually published in 1958
Atmospheric entry
–
Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
aeroshell, artistic rendition
Atmospheric entry
–
Apollo Command Module flying at a high
angle of attack for lifting entry, artistic rendition.
Atmospheric entry
–
Prototype of the Mk-2 Reentry Vehicle (RV), based on blunt body theory
Atmospheric entry
–
Galileo Probe during final assembly
17.
Elon Musk
–
Elon Reeve Musk is a South African-born Canadian-American business magnate, investor, engineer, and inventor. As of March 2017, he has a net worth of $13.9 billion. In December 2016, Musk was ranked 21st on Forbes list of The Worlds Most Powerful People, Musk has stated that the goals of SolarCity, Tesla, and SpaceX revolve around his vision to change the world and humanity. He has a brother, Kimbal, and a younger sister. His paternal grandmother was British, and he also has Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry, after his parents divorced in 1980, Musk lived mostly with his father in the suburbs of Pretoria. During his childhood he had an interest in reading and often did so for hours at a time, at age 10, he developed an interest in computing with the Commodore VIC-20. He taught himself computer programming at the age of 12, sold the code for a BASIC-based video game he created called Blastar, to a magazine called PC and Office Technology, a web version of the game is available online. Musk was severely bullied throughout his childhood, and was hospitalized when a group of boys threw him down a flight of stairs. Musk was initially educated at schools, attending the English-speaking Waterkloof House Preparatory School. Musk later graduated from Pretoria Boys High School and moved to Canada in June 1989, just before his 18th birthday, therefore, with the law change, he is considered to have always been a Canadian citizen by birth. At the age of 19, Musk was accepted into Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Musk extended his studies for one year to finish the second bachelors degree. While at the University of Pennsylvania, Musk and fellow Penn student Adeo Ressi rented a 10-bedroom fraternity house, in 2002, he became a U. S. citizen. In 1995, Musk and his brother, Kimbal, started Zip2, the company developed and marketed an Internet city guide for the newspaper publishing industry. Musk obtained contracts with The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, while at Zip2, Musk wanted to become CEO, however, none of the board members would allow it. Compaq acquired Zip2 for US$307 million in cash and US$34 million in stock options in February 1999, Musk received 7% or US$22 million from the sale. In March 1999, Musk co-founded X. com, an financial services and e-mail payment company. One year later, the merged with Confinity, which had a money transfer service called PayPal. The merged company focused on the PayPal service and was renamed PayPal in 2001, PayPals early growth was driven mainly by a viral marketing campaign where new customers were recruited when they received money through the service
Elon Musk
–
Musk at the 2015 Tesla Motors Annual Shareholder Meeting
Elon Musk
–
Musk and President
Barack Obama at the Falcon 9 launch site in 2010
Elon Musk
–
Musk observing an assembly demo at the reopening of the
NUMMI plant, now known as the
Tesla Factory (
Fremont, California) in 2010
Elon Musk
–
Musk standing in front of a Tesla Model S in 2011
18.
Twitter
–
Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post and interact with messages, tweets, restricted to 140 characters. Registered users can post tweets, but those who are unregistered can only read them, users access Twitter through its website interface, SMS or a mobile device app. Twitter Inc. is based in San Francisco, California, United States, Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams and launched in July. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity, in 2012, more than 100 million users posted 340 million tweets a day, and the service handled an average of 1.6 billion search queries per day. In 2013, it was one of the ten most-visited websites and has described as the SMS of the Internet. As of 2016, Twitter had more than 319 million monthly active users. On the day of the 2016 U. S. presidential election, Twitter proved to be the largest source of breaking news, Twitters origins lie in a daylong brainstorming session held by board members of the podcasting company Odeo. Jack Dorsey, then a student at New York University. The original project name for the service was twttr, an idea that Williams later ascribed to Noah Glass, inspired by Flickr. The developers initially considered 10958 as a code, but later changed it to 40404 for ease of use. Work on the project started on March 21,2006, when Dorsey published the first Twitter message at 9,50 PM Pacific Standard Time, Dorsey has explained the origin of the Twitter title. we came across the word twitter, and it was just perfect. The definition was a short burst of inconsequential information, and chirps from birds, and thats exactly what the product was. The first Twitter prototype, developed by Dorsey and contractor Florian Weber, was used as a service for Odeo employees. Williams fired Glass, who was silent about his part in Twitters startup until 2011, Twitter spun off into its own company in April 2007. Williams provided insight into the ambiguity that defined this early period in a 2013 interview, With Twitter and they called it a social network, they called it microblogging, but it was hard to define, because it didnt replace anything. There was this path of discovery with something like that, where over time you figure out what it is, Twitter actually changed from what we thought it was in the beginning, which we described as status updates and a social utility. It is that, in part, but the insight we eventually came to was Twitter was really more of an information network than it is a social network, the tipping point for Twitters popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive conference. During the event, Twitter usage increased from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000, the Twitter people cleverly placed two 60-inch plasma screens in the conference hallways, exclusively streaming Twitter messages, remarked Newsweeks Steven Levy
Twitter
–
A blueprint sketch, c. 2006, by
Jack Dorsey, envisioning an
SMS -based
social network.
Twitter
–
Twitter's homepage as of August 2015 (only in select countries)
Twitter
–
Jack Dorsey, a co-founder and the chairman of Twitter, in 2009
Twitter
–
Twitter's San Francisco, California headquarters, as seen from a corner on Market Street
19.
Falcon (rocket family)
–
The Falcon rocket family is an American family of multi-use rocket launch vehicles developed and operated by Space Exploration Technologies. The vehicles in this include the flight-tested Falcon 1 and Falcon 9. The Falcon 1 made its first successful flight on 28 September 2008, the larger Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle -class Falcon 9 flew successfully into orbit on its maiden launch on 4 June 2010. The Falcon 9 was designed for reuse, several first stages have landed vertically, SpaceX is currently in production of the first Falcon Heavy launch system. Other designs for boosters with even larger payload lifting capabilities are currently being researched, elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has stated that the Falcon rockets are named after the Millennium Falcon from the Star Wars film series. The Falcon 9 v1.2 is a version of the Falcon 9 V1.1. It was used the first time on 22 December 2015 for the ORBCOMM-2 launch at Cape Canaveral SLC-40 launch pad, the first stage is upgraded with a larger LOX tank, the LOX is supercooled which allows a greater mass of fuel in the same tank volume. The second stage is extended for greater fuel tank capacity. These upgrades bring a 33% increase to the rocket performance. The Falcon 1 is a small, partially reusable rocket capable of placing several hundred kilograms into low earth orbit and it also functioned as a testbed for developing concepts and components for the larger Falcon 9. On 26 March 2006, the Falcon 1s maiden flight failed only seconds after leaving the pad due to a fuel line rupture. The third Falcon 1 flight used a new cooling system for the first-stage Merlin engine. On 28 September 2008, the Falcon 1 succeeded in reaching orbit on its fourth attempt, the Falcon 1 carried its first and only successful commercial payload into orbit on 13 July 2009, on its fifth launch. The Falcon 1e is a version of the Falcon 1 with a larger fairing and payload mass. By December 2010, Falcon 1e replaced the services of Falcon 1 on the SpaceX product list, the 1e version has not yet been flown and is not currently scheduled to make a flight. Continued development and use of the Falcon 1/1e have been stagnant while the company focuses on the Falcon 9/Dragon program, the first version of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, Falcon 9 v1.0, was developed in 2005–2010, and was launched for the first time in 2010. Falcon 9 v1.0 made five flights in 2010–2013, when it was retired, on 8 September 2005, SpaceX announced the development of the Falcon 9 rocket, which has nine Merlin engines in its first stage. The design is an EELV-class vehicle, intended to compete with the Delta IV, both stages were designed for reuse
Falcon (rocket family)
–
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft, lifts off during the
COTS Demo Flight 1 on 8 December 2010
Falcon (rocket family)
–
The Falcon rocket family: from left to right,
Falcon 1,
Falcon 9 v1.0, three versions of
Falcon 9 v1.1, and two versions of
Falcon Heavy
Falcon (rocket family)
Falcon (rocket family)
–
The first
Falcon 1 at
Vandenberg AFB. This vehicle was removed from VAFB due to delays and eventually launched from
Kwajalein.
20.
Falcon Heavy
–
Falcon Heavy, previously known as the Falcon 9 Heavy, is a super heavy lift space launch vehicle being designed and manufactured by SpaceX. The Falcon Heavy is a variant of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and will consist of a strengthened Falcon 9 rocket core and this will increase the low Earth orbit payload to 64 tonnes, compared to 22.8 tonnes for a Falcon 9 full thrust. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space, Elon Musk first mentioned Falcon Heavy in a September 2005 news update, referring to a customer request from 18 months prior. Various solutions using the planned Falcon 5 had been explored, but the only cost effective, I want to emphasize that although SpaceX development is now primarily on the Falcon 5/9, Falcon 1 is and will always remain a very important part of our business. I think that once the market has time to adapt to its existence. As the Falcon Heavy was based on common cores and engines, by August 2008, SpaceX were aiming for the first launch of Falcon 9 in Q22009, and Falcon 9 Heavy would be in a couple of years. Speaking at the 2008 Mars Society Conference, Elon Musk also said that an upper stage would follow 2–3 years later. At a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington and this opens a new world of capability for both government and commercial space missions. In order to accommodate Falcon 9 and Heavy, Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg was being demolished as part of a pad upgrade, the first launch from the Cape Canaveral east-coast launch complex was planned for late 2013 or 2014. In 2015, SpaceX announced a number of changes to the Falcon Heavy rocket, in April 2015, SpaceX sent the U. S. Air Force an updated letter of intent April 14 outlining a certification process for its Falcon Heavy rocket to launch national security satellites. The process includes three successful flights of the Falcon Heavy including two successful flights, and states that Falcon Heavy can be ready to fly national security payloads by 2017. The flight was now to be launched from the refurbished Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A, in August 2016, the demonstration flight was moved to early 2017, then to Summer 2017. A second demonstration flight is scheduled for September 30,2017 with the STP-2 US Air Force payload. The first commercial GTO mission is scheduled in 2018 for Arabsat, on 29 December 2016, SpaceX released a photo showing the Falcon Heavy interstage at the company headquarter in Hawthorne, California. The Falcon Heavy falls into the super heavy-lift range of systems under the classification system used by a NASA human spaceflight review panel. The initial concept envisioned payloads of 25 tons to LEO, by late 2013, SpaceX raised the projected GTO payload for Falcon Heavy to up to 21,200 kilograms. In April 2017, the projected LEO payload for Falcon Heavy was raised from up to 54,400 kilograms to up to 64,000 kilograms. Falcon Heavy will be more capable than any other operational rocket, the rocket was designed to meet or exceed all current requirements of human rating
Falcon Heavy
–
Artist representation of Falcon Heavy Reusable on launchpad
Falcon Heavy
–
SpaceX breaking ground at
Vandenberg AFB SLC-4E for the Falcon Heavy launch pad
21.
Falcon 1
–
The Falcon 1 was an expendable launch system privately developed and manufactured by SpaceX during 2006–2009. On 28 September 2008, Falcon 1 became the first privately-developed liquid-fuel launch vehicle to go into orbit around the Earth, the two-stage-to-orbit rocket used LOX/RP-1 for both stages, the first powered by a single Merlin engine and the second powered by a single Kestrel engine. It was designed by SpaceX from the ground up, the vehicle was launched a total of five times. Falcon 1 achieved orbit on its attempt, in September 2008 with a mass simulator as a payload. On 14 July 2009, Falcon 1 made its final flight, following its fifth launch, the Falcon 1 was retired and succeeded by Falcon 9. SpaceX had announced a variant, the Falcon 1e. The Falcon 1 rocket was developed with private funding, the only other orbital launch vehicles to be privately funded and developed were the Conestoga in 1982 and Pegasus, first launched in 1990, which uses a large aircraft as its first stage. The total development cost of Falcon 1 was approximately US$90 million, as part of a US$15 million contract, Falcon 1 was to carry the TacSat-1 in 2005. By late May 2005, SpaceX stated that Falcon 1 was ready to launch TacSat-1 from Vandenberg, but the Air Force did not want the launch of an untested rocket to occur until the final Titan IV flew from nearby SLC 4E. Subsequent and repeated delays due to Falcon 1 launch failures delayed TacSat-1s launch, after TacSat-2 was launched on an Orbital Sciences Minotaur I on December 16,2006, the Department of Defense re-evaluated the need for launching TacSat-1. In August 2007, the Department of Defense canceled the planned launch of TacSat-1 because all of the TacSat objectives had been met. An August 2005 update on SpaceXs website showed 6 launches planned for Falcon 1, with customers including MDA Corp, Swedish Space Corp and US Air Force. According to SpaceX, the Falcon 1 was designed to minimize price per launch for low-Earth-orbit satellites, increase reliability and it also was used to verify components and structural design concepts that would be reused in the Falcon 9. SpaceX started with the smallest useful orbital rocket, instead of building something larger and more complicated, the first stage was made from friction-stir-welded 2219 aluminum alloy. It employs a common bulkhead between the LOX and RP-1 tanks, as well as pressure stabilization. It can be transported safely without pressurization but gains additional strength when pressurized for flight, the parachute system, built by Irvin Parachute Corporation, uses a high-speed drogue chute and a main chute. For the first two launches, the Falcon 1 used a Merlin 1A engine, the Falcon 1 first stage was powered by a single pump-fed Merlin 1C engine burning RP-1 and liquid oxygen providing 410 kilonewtons of sea-level thrust and a specific impulse of 245 s. The first stage burns to depletion, taking around 169 seconds to do so, the second stage Falcon 1 tanks were built with a cryogenic-compatible 2014 aluminum alloy, with the plan to move to aluminum-lithium alloy on the Falcon 1e
Falcon 1
–
Falcon 1 rocket.
Falcon 1
–
First-stage view of the
Merlin engine.
22.
Falcon 9 v1.0
–
The Falcon 9 v1.0 was the first member of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle family, designed and manufactured by SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. Development of the medium-lift launcher began in 2005, and it first flew in June 2010, the two stage vehicle was powered by SpaceXs Merlin engines, burning liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene. It had a capacity of 10,450 kg to low Earth orbit and 4,540 kg to geostationary transfer orbit. The vehicle was retired in 2013 and replaced by the upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1, of its five launches from 2010-2013, all successfully delivered their primary payload, though an anomaly led to the loss of one secondary payload. The Falcon 9 v1.0 first stage was used on the first five Falcon 9 launches, each of these engines had a sea-level thrust of 556 kilonewtons for a total thrust on liftoff of about 5,000 kilonewtons. The Falcon 9 tank walls and domes were made from aluminum lithium alloy, SpaceX uses an all-friction stir welded tank, the highest strength and most reliable welding technique available. The Falcon 9 v1.0 first stage used a mixture of triethylaluminum-triethylborane as a first-stage ignitor. The upper stage was powered by a single Merlin 1C engine modified for operation, with an expansion ratio of 117,1. For added reliability of restart, the engine has dual redundant pyrophoric igniters, the Falcon 9 v1.0 interstage, which connects the upper and lower stage for Falcon 9, is a carbon fiber aluminum core composite structure. Reusable separation collets and a pneumatic pusher system separate the stages, the stage separation system had twelve attachment points. The second stage tank of Falcon 9 is simply a version of the first stage tank and uses most of the same tooling, material. This saves money during vehicle production, four Draco thrusters were used on the Falcon 9 v1.0 second-stage as a reaction control system. SpaceX uses multiple redundant flight computers in a fault-tolerant design, each Merlin engine is controlled by three voting computers, each of which has two physical processors that constantly check each other. The software runs on Linux and is written in C++, for flexibility, commercial off-the-shelf parts and system-wide radiation-tolerant design are used instead of rad-hardened parts. While SpaceX spent its own money to develop its first launch vehicle, the Falcon 1 and this started with seed money from the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program in 2006. SpaceX was selected more than twenty companies that submitted COTS proposals. Without the NASA money, development would have longer, Musk said. The development costs for Falcon 9 v1.0 were approximately US$300 million, if some of the Falcon 1 development costs were included, since F1 development did contribute to Falcon 9 to some extent, then the total might be considered as high as US$390 million
Falcon 9 v1.0
–
A Falcon 9 v1.0 launches with an uncrewed
Dragon spacecraft on a
cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station in March 2013, the fifth and final flight of a version 1.0 Falcon 9.
Falcon 9 v1.0
–
Falcon 9 booster tank at the SpaceX factory, 2008
23.
Falcon 9 v1.1
–
Falcon 9 v1.1 was the second version of SpaceXs Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle. The rocket was developed in 2011–2013, made its launch in September 2013. The Falcon 9 rocket was designed, manufactured, and operated by SpaceX. Following the second Commercial Resupply Services launch, the initial version Falcon 9 v1.0 was retired from use, Falcon 9 v1.1 was a significant evolution from Falcon 9 v1.0, with 60 percent more thrust and weight. Its maiden flight carried out a mission with the CASSIOPE satellite on 29 September 2013. Both stages of the vehicle used liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants. Beginning in April 2014, the Dragon capsules were propelled by Falcon 9 v1.1 to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. This last goal was achieved on the first flight of the successor variant Falcon 9 Full Thrust, the base Falcon 9 v1.1 is a two-stage, LOX/RP-1–powered launch vehicle. The Falcon 9 v1.1 ELV is a 60 percent heavier rocket with 60 percent more thrust than the v1.0 version of the Falcon 9 and it includes realigned first-stage engines and 60 percent longer fuel tanks, making it more susceptible to bending during flight. The engines have been upgraded to the more powerful Merlin 1D engines and these improvements increase the payload capability to LEO from 10,454 kilograms to 13,150 kilograms. The stage separation system has been redesigned and reduces the number of attachment points from twelve to three, and the vehicle has upgraded avionics and software as well. The v1.1 booster version arranges the engines in a structural form SpaceX calls Octaweb, later v1.1 vehicles include four extensible landing legs, used in the controlled-descent test program. Following the first launch of the Falcon 9 v1, Falcon 9 Flight 6 was the first launch of the Falcon 9 configured with a jettisonable payload fairing. The Falcon 9 v1.1 uses a first stage powered by nine Merlin 1D engines, development testing of the v1.1 Falcon 9 first stage was completed in July 2013. The nine first-stage engines are arranged in a structural form SpaceX calls Octaweb and this change from the v1.0 Falcon 9s square arrangement is aimed at streamlining the manufacturing process. As part of SpaceXs efforts to develop a launch system, selected first stages include four extensible landing legs. Fins were first tested on the F9R Dev-1 reusable test vehicle, grid fins were implemented on the Falcon 9 v1.1 on the CRS-5 mission, but ran out of hydraulic fluid before a planned landing. SpaceX ultimately intends to produce both Reusable Falcon 9 and Reusable Falcon Heavy launch vehicles with full vertical-landing capability, the v1.1 first stage uses a pyrophoric mixture of triethylaluminium-triethylborane as a first-stage ignitor, the same as was used in the v1.0 version
Falcon 9 v1.1
–
Launch of the 10th Falcon 9 v1.1 with the
Deep Space Climate Observatory on February 11, 2015. This rocket was installed with landing legs and grid fins.
Falcon 9 v1.1
–
The launch of the first Falcon 9 v1.1 from
SLC-4,
Vandenberg AFB (
Falcon 9 Flight 6) 29 September 2013.
Falcon 9 v1.1
–
A Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket launching the
SpaceX CRS-3 Dragon spacecraft in April 2014.
Falcon 9 v1.1
–
Falcon 9 Flight 17's first stage attempting a controlled landing on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship following the launch of
CRS-6 to the
International Space Station. The stage landed hard and tipped over after landing.
24.
Falcon 5
–
The Falcon 5 was a proposed two-stage-to-orbit partially reusable launch vehicle designed by SpaceX, since canceled in preference of the larger, more powerful Falcon 9. The first stage of Falcon 5 was to be powered by five Merlin engines, along with the Falcon 9, it would have been the worlds only launch vehicle with all stages designed for reuse. In comparison, the Space Shuttle only had partial engine out capability, in 2006, SpaceX stated that the Falcon 5 was a Falcon 9 with four engines removed. Since the launchers were being co-developed, work on the Falcon 9 was also applicable to the Falcon 5, sources for this table are from Space Launch Report and SpaceX and footnoted here. The launch vehicle was planned to be along the lines of the companys Falcon 4 or Falcon 5, the air-launched rocket concept was eventually named the Falcon 9 Air, and was being designed to have only four Merlin 1D engines
Falcon 5
–
Early Falcon 5 design
25.
Grasshopper (rocket)
–
Grasshopper and the Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicles were experimental technology-demonstrator reusable rockets that performed vertical takeoffs and landings. The project was funded by SpaceX, with no funds provided by the government. Two prototypes were built, and both were launched from the ground, Grasshopper was announced in 2011 and began low-altitude, low-velocity hover/landing testing in 2012. The initial Grasshopper test vehicle was 106 ft tall and made eight successful test flights in 2012 and 2013 before being retired, a second Grasshopper-class prototype was the larger and more capable Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicle based on the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle. It was tested at higher altitudes and supersonic speeds as well as providing additional low-altitude tests. The F9R Dev1 vehicle was built in 2013–2014 and made its first low-altitude flight test on 17 April 2014, the latter eventually resulted in the first successful booster landing on 21 December 2015. Shortly thereafter, SpaceX confirmed the existence of the test vehicle development program, and projected it would begin the Grasshopper flight test program in 2012. Releases of public information in 2011 indicated that the tests would occur in McGregor. At the time, testing was expected to take up to three years and the initial FAA permit allows up to 70 suborbital launches per year, a half-acre concrete launch facility was constructed to support the test flight program. In September 2012, SpaceX announced that they have requested FAA approval to increase the altitude of some of the initial test flights, looking forward to the next year, CEO Musk said in November 2012, Over the next few months, we’ll gradually increase the altitude and speed. I do think there probably will be some craters along the way, vertical landing is an extremely important breakthrough — extreme, rapid reusability. The first VTVL flight test vehicle—Grasshopper, built on a Falcon 9 v1.0 first-stage tank—made a total of eight test flights between September 2012 and October 2013, all eight flights were from the McGregor, Texas test facility. Grasshopper began flight testing in September 2012 with a brief, three-second hop, Grasshopper made its eighth, and final, test flight on October 7,2013, flying to an altitude of 744 m before making its eighth successful vertical landing. The Grasshopper test vehicle is now retired, Flight tests at the Texas facility were limited to a maximum altitude of 2,500 ft by the initial FAA regulatory permit. As Elon Musk stated, Grasshopper could land on Earth with the accuracy of a helicopter, from the announcement in 2011 until 2014, SpaceX has achieved each of the schedule milestones that they publicly announced. The Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicle, or F9R Dev, was announced in October 2012, F9R Dev1 was initially named, since late 2012 until early 2014, as Grasshopper v1.1. In March 2013 Musk said that SpaceX hoped to reach hypersonic speed before the end of 2013. In 2014 the FAA permit was increased to 10,000 ft for the F9R Dev testing at McGregor, the F9R Dev1 was built on the much longer Falcon 9 v1.1 first-stage tank, and with retractable landing legs
Grasshopper (rocket)
–
Grasshopper v1.0 in September 2012
Grasshopper (rocket)
–
In Flight Abort Booster, possibly the former F9R Dev2, at SLC-4E.
Grasshopper (rocket)
–
Falcon 9 first stage attempts landing on ASDS after second stage with CRS-6 continued onto orbit. Landing legs are in the midst of deploying.
26.
F9R Dev1
–
Grasshopper and the Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicles were experimental technology-demonstrator reusable rockets that performed vertical takeoffs and landings. The project was funded by SpaceX, with no funds provided by the government. Two prototypes were built, and both were launched from the ground, Grasshopper was announced in 2011 and began low-altitude, low-velocity hover/landing testing in 2012. The initial Grasshopper test vehicle was 106 ft tall and made eight successful test flights in 2012 and 2013 before being retired, a second Grasshopper-class prototype was the larger and more capable Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicle based on the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle. It was tested at higher altitudes and supersonic speeds as well as providing additional low-altitude tests. The F9R Dev1 vehicle was built in 2013–2014 and made its first low-altitude flight test on 17 April 2014, the latter eventually resulted in the first successful booster landing on 21 December 2015. Shortly thereafter, SpaceX confirmed the existence of the test vehicle development program, and projected it would begin the Grasshopper flight test program in 2012. Releases of public information in 2011 indicated that the tests would occur in McGregor. At the time, testing was expected to take up to three years and the initial FAA permit allows up to 70 suborbital launches per year, a half-acre concrete launch facility was constructed to support the test flight program. In September 2012, SpaceX announced that they have requested FAA approval to increase the altitude of some of the initial test flights, looking forward to the next year, CEO Musk said in November 2012, Over the next few months, we’ll gradually increase the altitude and speed. I do think there probably will be some craters along the way, vertical landing is an extremely important breakthrough — extreme, rapid reusability. The first VTVL flight test vehicle—Grasshopper, built on a Falcon 9 v1.0 first-stage tank—made a total of eight test flights between September 2012 and October 2013, all eight flights were from the McGregor, Texas test facility. Grasshopper began flight testing in September 2012 with a brief, three-second hop, Grasshopper made its eighth, and final, test flight on October 7,2013, flying to an altitude of 744 m before making its eighth successful vertical landing. The Grasshopper test vehicle is now retired, Flight tests at the Texas facility were limited to a maximum altitude of 2,500 ft by the initial FAA regulatory permit. As Elon Musk stated, Grasshopper could land on Earth with the accuracy of a helicopter, from the announcement in 2011 until 2014, SpaceX has achieved each of the schedule milestones that they publicly announced. The Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicle, or F9R Dev, was announced in October 2012, F9R Dev1 was initially named, since late 2012 until early 2014, as Grasshopper v1.1. In March 2013 Musk said that SpaceX hoped to reach hypersonic speed before the end of 2013. In 2014 the FAA permit was increased to 10,000 ft for the F9R Dev testing at McGregor, the F9R Dev1 was built on the much longer Falcon 9 v1.1 first-stage tank, and with retractable landing legs
F9R Dev1
–
Grasshopper v1.0 in September 2012
F9R Dev1
–
In Flight Abort Booster, possibly the former F9R Dev2, at SLC-4E.
F9R Dev1
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Falcon 9 first stage attempts landing on ASDS after second stage with CRS-6 continued onto orbit. Landing legs are in the midst of deploying.
27.
SpaceX Dragon
–
Dragon is a reusable spacecraft developed by SpaceX, an American private space transportation company based in Hawthorne, California. Dragon is launched into space by the SpaceX Falcon 9 two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle, the Dragon spacecraft was originally designed for human travel, but so far has only been used to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. While carrying out missions to the ISS, Space X has continued to work on the production of a human rated model. This model will be able to be controlled by the center in Hawthorne. During its maiden flight in December 2010, Dragon became the first commercially built, on 25 May 2012, a cargo variant of Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous with and attach to the International Space Station. SpaceX is contracted to deliver cargo to the ISS under NASAs Commercial Resupply Services program, with the Dragon spacecraft and the Orbital ATK Cygnus, NASA seeks to increase its partnerships with domestic commercial aviation and aeronautics industry. SpaceX began developing the Dragon spacecraft in late 2004, making an announcement in 2006 with a plan of entering service in 2009. Also in 2006, SpaceX won a contract to use the Dragon spacecraft for commercially supplied resupply services to the International Space Station for the American federal space agency, the Dragon spacecraft was a part of SpaceXs proposal, submitted to NASA in March 2006. SpaceXs COTS proposal was issued as part of a team, which also included MD Robotics, on 18 August 2006, NASA announced that SpaceX had been chosen, along with Kistler Aerospace, to develop cargo launch services for the ISS. The initial plan called for three demonstration flights of SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft to be conducted between 2008 and 2010, NASA later re-awarded Kistlers contract to Orbital Sciences. On 23 December 2008, NASA awarded a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract to SpaceX, the contract called for 12 flights to the ISS, with a minimum of 20,000 kg of cargo carried to the ISS. On 23 February 2009, SpaceX announced that its chosen phenolic-impregnated carbon ablator heat shield material, the DragonEyes Lidar and thermography abilities were both tested successfully. The COTS UHF Communication Unit and Crew Command Panel were delivered to the ISS during the late 2009 STS-129 mission, the CUCU allows the ISS to communicate with Dragon and the CCP allows ISS crew members to issue basic commands to Dragon. In summer 2009, SpaceX hired former NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox as vice president of their new Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance Department, in preparation for crews using the spacecraft. As a condition of the NASA CRS contract, SpaceX analyzed the orbital radiation environment on all Dragon systems, during March,2015, it was disclosed that SpaceX had been awarded an additional three missions under Commercial Resupply Services Phase 1. These additional missions are SpaceX CRS-13, SpaceX CRS-14 and SpaceX CRS-15, on February 24,2016, SpaceNews disclosed that SpaceX had been awarded a further five missions under Commercial Resupply Services Phase 1. This additional tranche of missions had SpaceX CRS-16 and SpaceX CRS-17 manifested for FY2017 while SpaceX CRS-18, SpaceX CRS-19, the Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract definition/solicitation period commenced in 2014 and a result announced on January 14,2016. The CRS2 launches are expected to commence in 2019, and extend to at least 2024, on January 14,2016, NASA announced that three companies had been awarded contracts for a minimum of six launches each
SpaceX Dragon
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The SpaceX Dragon CRS variant approaching the
ISS during the
C2+ mission in May 2012.
SpaceX Dragon
–
A Dragon capsule being shipped out of SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, California, February 2015.
SpaceX Dragon
–
An early Dragon pressure vessel, photographed during factory tests in 2008
SpaceX Dragon
–
The DragonEye system on
Space Shuttle Discovery during
STS-133
28.
Dragon 2
–
Dragon 2 is the second version of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which will be a human-rated vehicle able to make a terrestrial soft landing. It includes a set of four side-mounted thruster pods with two SuperDraco engines each, which can serve as an escape system or be used for propulsive landings. The spacecraft was unveiled on May 29,2014 during an event at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne. Designed to ferry astronauts to space, the capsule differs considerably from the cargo-carrying Dragon, Dragon 2 is scheduled to make an unmanned first orbital flight in November 2017, and to carry its first astronaut crew in May 2018. SpaceX completed a pad abort test of the spacecraft on 6 May 2015. NASA has signed a contract to procure up to six crewed flights to the International Space Station under the Commercial Crew Development, the crewed variant of Dragon was initially called DragonRider. It was intended from the beginning to support a crew of seven or a combination of crew and it was planned to be able to perform fully autonomous rendezvous and docking with manual override ability, and was designed to use the NASA Docking System to dock to the ISS. For typical missions, DragonRider would remain docked to the ISS for a period of 180 days, but would be designed to be able to do so for 210 days, an emergency parachute system will be retained as both a redundant backup and for water landings. As of 2011, the Paragon Space Development Corporation was assisting in developing DragonRiders life support system, in 2012, SpaceX was in talks with Orbital Outfitters about developing space suits to wear during launch and re-entry. This contrasts with the 2014 Soyuz launch price of $76,000,000 per seat for NASA astronauts, in October 2014, NASA selected the Dragon spacecraft as one of the candidates to fly American astronauts to the International Space Station under the Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX plans to use the Falcon 9 launch vehicle for launching Dragon 2, Musk indicated that Dragon could transport 2 to 4 tonnes of useful payload to the surface of Mars. Dragon 2 includes the features, Reuses, partly reusable, can be flown multiple times. SpaceX anticipates that about ten flights are possible before significant vehicle refurbishing is needed, nominally, only two quads are used for on-orbit propellant with the Dracos and two quads are reserved for propulsive landing using the SuperDracos. The first fully printed engine, the SuperDraco Engine combustion chamber is printed of Inconel, engines are contained in a protective nacelle to prevent fault propagation if an engine fails. Docking, able to dock to space stations. Dragon V1 used berthing, a means to attach to the ISS that was completed by use of the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Also, the spacecraft will be able to return if a leak occurs of up to an equivalent orifice of 0.25 inches in diameter. Movable ballast sled, to more precise attitude control of the spacecraft during the atmospheric entry phase of the return to Earth
Dragon 2
–
The Dragon 2 stands on a stage inside SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., after its unveiling.
Dragon 2
–
2012 DragonRider mockup, showing the
LES engines mounted on the outside of the capsule, when the design was not yet final.
Dragon 2
–
SpaceX Dragon V2 Pad Abort Vehicle, assembled and stacked on the Dragon trunk in a test chamber, January 2015.
Dragon 2
–
An infographic of the SpaceX Dragon 2 Pad Abort Test for the May 2015 test, produced by SpaceX
29.
SpaceX rocket engine family
–
Since the founding of SpaceX in 2002, the company has developed four families of rocket engines — Merlin, Kestrel, Draco and SuperDraco — and is currently developing another rocket engine, Raptor. In the first ten years of SpaceX, the company developed a variety of liquid-propellant rocket engines, in November 2012, at a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, United Kingdom, SpaceX announced that they plan to develop methane-based engines for their future rockets. These engines will use staged cycle combustion, for higher efficiency similar to the used on the former Soviet Unions NK-33 engine. By mid-2015, SpaceX had developed a total of 9 rocket engines architectures in the first 13 years of the companys existence. SpaceX has developed two Kerosene-based engines through 2013, the Merlin 1 and Kestrel, and has discussed a much larger concept engine high-level design named Merlin 2. The Falcon 1 second stage is powered by a Kestrel engine, Merlin 1 is a family of LOX/RP-1 rocket engines developed 2003–2012. Merlin 1A and Merlin 1B utilized an ablatively cooled carbon fiber composite nozzle, Merlin 1A produced 340 kilonewtons of thrust and was used to power the first stage of the first two Falcon 1 flights in 2006 and 2007. Merlin 1B had a more powerful turbo-pump, and generated more thrust. The Merlin 1C was the first in the family to use a regeneratively cooled nozzle, a new feature for the engine is the ability to throttle from 100% to 70%. The engines 150,1 thrust-to-weight ratio is the highest ever achieved for a rocket engine, the first flight of the Merlin 1D engine was also the maiden Falcon 9 v1.1 flight. Kestrel was a LOX/RP-1 pressure-fed rocket engine, and was developed by SpaceX as the Falcon 1 rockets second stage main engine and it was built around the same pintle architecture as SpaceXs Merlin engine but does not have a turbo-pump, and is fed only by tank pressure. Its nozzle was ablatively cooled in the chamber and radiatively cooled in the throat, thrust vector control is provided by electro-mechanical actuators on the engine dome for pitch and yaw. Roll control – and attitude control during the coast phase – is provided by helium cold gas thrusters, in November 2012, methalox engines came on the scene when SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced a new direction for propulsion side of the company, developing methane/LOX rocket engines. SpaceX work on methane/LOX engines is strictly to support the companys Mars technology development program and they have no plans to build an upper stage engine for the Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy using methalox propellant. The focus of the new development program is exclusively on the full-size Raptor engine for the Mars-focused mission. When first mentioned by SpaceX in 2009, the term Raptor was applied exclusively to an upper stage engine concept. SpaceX discussed in October 2013 that they intended to build a family of methane-based Raptor rocket engines, in February 2014, they announced that Raptor would be used on both a new upper stage as well as for the very large launch vehicle of the then-named Mars Colonial Transporter. The booster would utilize multiple Raptor engines, similar to the use of nine Merlin 1s on each Falcon 9 booster core, initial component-level testing of Raptor technology began in May 2014, with an injector element test
SpaceX rocket engine family
–
Making a SpaceX Merlin 1D engine. The shiny nozzle here has channels etched vertically in it for the fuel to run down and back up, keeping the nozzle from melting during use. 2012 photo by
Steve Jurvetson.
SpaceX rocket engine family
–
Merlin 1D rocket engines on a
Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle in
SLC-40 hangar, April 2014
30.
Merlin (rocket engine family)
–
Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles. SpaceX also plans to use Merlin engines on its Falcon Heavy, Merlin engines use RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle. The Merlin engine was designed for sea recovery and reuse. The injector at the heart of Merlin is of the type that was first used in the Apollo program for the lunar module landing engine. Propellants are fed via a shaft, dual impeller turbopump. The turbo-pump also provides high pressure fluid for the hydraulic actuators and this eliminates the need for a separate hydraulic drive system and means that thrust vectoring control failure by running out of hydraulic fluid is not possible. Three versions of the Merlin 1C engine have been produced, the Merlin engine for Falcon 1 had a movable turbo-pump exhaust assembly which was used to provide roll control by vectoring the exhaust. The Merlin 1C engine for the Falcon 9 first stage is identical to the variant used for the Falcon 1 except that the turbo-pump exhaust assembly is not movable. Finally, a Merlin 1C vacuum variant is used on the Falcon 9 second stage and this engine differs from the Falcon 9 first stage variant in that it uses a larger exhaust nozzle optimized for vacuum operation and can be throttled between 60 and 100 percent. The initial version, the Merlin 1A, used an inexpensive, expendable, ablatively cooled carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer composite nozzle, and produced 340 kN of thrust. The Merlin 1A flew only twice, First on March 24,2006, when it caught fire and failed due to a leak shortly after launch, and the second time on March 21,2007. Both times the Merlin 1A was mounted on a Falcon 1 first stage, the Merlin 1A turbopump used a unique friction-welded main shaft, with Inconel 718 ends and an integral aluminum RP-1 impeller in the middle. The turbopump housing was constructed using investment castings, with Inconel at the end, aluminum in the center. The turbine was a partial-admission impulse design and turned at up to 20,000 rpm, the Merlin 1B rocket engine was an upgraded version of the Merlin 1A engine. The turbopump upgrades were handled by Barber-Nichols, Inc. for SpaceX, the Merlin 1B was enhanced over the 1A with a turbine upgrade, increasing power output from 1,500 kW to 1,900 kW. The turbine upgrade was accomplished by adding additional nozzles, turning the previously partial-admission design to full-admission, slightly enlarged impellers for both RP-1 and LOX were part of the upgrade. This model turned at a faster 22,000 rpm and developed higher discharge pressures, turbopump weight was unchanged at 150 lb. Another notable change over the 1A was the move to TEA-TEB ignition over torch ignition, initial use of the Merlin 1B was to be on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, on whose first stage there would have been a cluster of nine of these engines
Merlin (rocket engine family)
–
Test firing at SpaceX McGregor's test stand of the Merlin 1D
Merlin (rocket engine family)
–
Merlin 1C under construction at SpaceX factory
Merlin (rocket engine family)
–
Merlin 1D flight hardware (foreground) and octaweb engine harness (background), June 2013, on the manufacturing floor in
Hawthorne, California.
