Falcon 9 full thrust

Falcon 9 full thrust

Launch of the first Falcon 9 full thrust flight, Falcon 9 Flight 20, carrying 11 Orbcomm satellites to orbit. The first stage was recovered at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station LZ-1 following the first successful Falcon 9 landing.
Function Orbital medium-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer SpaceX
Country of origin United States
Cost per launch $62M for up to 5,500 kg (12,100 lb) to GTO[1]
Size
Height 70 m (230 ft) with payload fairing[2]
Diameter 3.66 m (12.0 ft)[3]
Mass 549,054 kg (1,210,457 lb)[3]
Stages 2
Capacity
Payload to LEO (28.5°)
  • Expendable: 22,800 kg (50,300 lb)[3]
  • Reusable: more than 13,150 kg (28,990 lb)[4]
  • PAF structural limitation: 10,886 kg (24,000 lb)[2]
Payload to GTO (27°)
  • Expendable: 8,300 kg (18,300 lb)[3]
  • Reusable: at least 5,300 kg (11,700 lb)[5][6]
Payload to Mars 4,020 kg (8,860 lb)[3]
Associated rockets
Family Falcon 9
Derivatives Falcon Heavy
Comparable
Launch history
Status Active
Launch sites
Total launches 4
Successes 4
Landings 3 / 4 attempts
First flight 22 December 2015
Notable payloads Dragon
First stage
Engines 9 Merlin 1D
Thrust Sea level: 7,607 kN (1,710,000 lbf)[3]
Vacuum: 8,227 kN (1,850,000 lbf)[3]
Specific impulse Sea level: 282 seconds[4]
Vacuum: 311 seconds[4]
Burn time 162 seconds[3]
Fuel Subcooled LOX / Chilled RP-1[7]
Second stage
Engines 1 Merlin 1D Vacuum
Thrust 934 kN (210,000 lbf)[3]
Specific impulse 348 seconds[3]
Burn time 397 seconds[3]
Fuel LOX / RP-1

Falcon 9 full thrust—also known as Falcon 9 v1.1 Full Thrust, and earlier as Falcon 9 v1.2, Enhanced Falcon 9, Full-Performance Falcon 9, Upgraded Falcon 9, and Falcon 9 Upgrade—is the third major version of the SpaceX Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle. Designed in 2014–2015, it began launch operations in December 2015, and has a large manifest of over 40 launches contracted over the following five years.

In December 2015, the full thrust version of the Falcon 9 was the first launch vehicle on an orbital trajectory to successfully vertically-land a first stage and recover the rocket, following an extensive technology development program in 2011–2015 that had developed some of the technology on Falcon 9 v1.0 and Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle first stages.

Falcon 9 full thrust is a substantial upgrade over the older Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, which flew its last mission in January 2016. With uprated first- and second-stage engines, larger second-stage propellant tankage, and propellant densification, the vehicle can carry substantial payload to geostationary orbit and perform a propulsive landing for recovery.[8]

History

Falcon 9 full thrust rocket with the SpaceX CRS-8 Dragon spacecraft on the launch pad in April 2016

As early as March 2014, SpaceX pricing and payload specifications published for the expendable Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket actually included about 30 percent more performance than the published price list indicated. At that time, the additional performance was reserved for SpaceX to conduct reusability testing with the Falcon 9 v1.1 while still achieving the specified payloads for customers. Many engineering changes to support reusability and recovery of the first stage had been made on this earlier v1.1 version. SpaceX indicated they had room to increase the payload performance for the Falcon 9 full thrust, or decrease launch price, or both.[9]

In 2015, SpaceX announced a number of modifications to the previous version Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle. The new rocket was known internally for a while as Falcon 9 v1.1 Full Thrust,[10] but was also known under a variety of names including Falcon 9 v1.2, Enhanced Falcon 9, Full-Performance Falcon 9,[11] Upgraded Falcon 9,[12] and Falcon 9 Upgrade.[13][14] Since the first flight in late 2015, SpaceX has been referring to the "full thrust upgrade" Falcon 9 merely as Falcon 9.[15] However, it is the third major version of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle following the Falcon 9 v1.0 (launched 2010–2013) and the Falcon 9 v1.1 (launched 2013–January 2016). The Falcon 9 full thrust was first launched on 22 December 2015, on the 20th Falcon 9 flight.[12]

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell explained in March 2015 that the new design would result in streamlined production as well as improved performance:[16]

So, we got the higher thrust engines, finished development on that, we're in [qualification testing]. What we're also doing is modifying the structure a little bit. I want to be building only two versions, or two cores in my factory, any more than that would not be great from a customer perspective. It's about a 30% increase in performance, maybe a little more. What it does is it allows us to land the first stage for GTO missions on the drone ship.[11]

According to a SpaceX statement in May 2015, Falcon 9 full thrust would likely not require a recertification to launch for United States government contracts. Shotwell stated that "It is an iterative process [with the agencies]" and that "It will become quicker and quicker to certify new versions of the vehicle."[17]

SES S.A., a satellite owner and operator, announced plans in February 2015 to launch its SES-9 satellite on the first flight of the Falcon 9 full thrust.[18] In the event, SpaceX elected to launch SES-9 on the second flight of the Falcon 9 full thrust and to launch Orbcomm OG2's second constellation on the first flight. As Chris Bergin of NASASpaceFlight explained, SES-9 required a more complicated second-stage burn profile involving one restart of the second-stage engine, while the Orbcomm mission would "allow for the Second Stage to conduct additional testing ahead of the more taxing SES-9 mission."[19]

The upgraded first stage began acceptance testing at SpaceX's McGregor facility in September 2015. The first of two static fire tests was completed on 21 September 2015 and included the subcooled propellant and the improved Merlin 1D engines.[20] The rocket reached full throttle during the static fire and was scheduled for launch no earlier than 17 November 2015.[21]

Falcon 9 Full Thrust completed its maiden flight on 22 December 2015, carrying an Orbcomm 11-satellite payload to orbit and landing the rocket's first stage intact at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral.[12] The second mission, SES-9, occurred on 4 March 2016.[22]

The US Air Force certified the upgraded version of the launch vehicle to be used on US military launches in January 2016, based on the one successful launch to date and the demonstrated "capability to design, produce, qualify, and deliver a new launch system and provide the mission assurance support required to deliver NSS (national security space) satellites to orbit".[23]

Design

Falcon 9 Full Thrust launch on March 4, 2016. The discarded first stage is in the lower right. The second stage is in the upper left, with the two parts of the jettisoned payload fairing.

A principal objective of the new design was to facilitate booster reusability for a larger range of missions, including delivery of large commsats to geosynchronous orbit.[24]

Like earlier versions of the Falcon 9, and like the Saturn series from the Apollo program, the presence of multiple first-stage engines can allow for mission completion even if one of the first-stage engines fails mid-flight.[25]

The full-thrust first stage booster could reach low Earth orbit as a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle if it is not carrying the upper stage and a heavy satellite.[26]

Falcon 9 FT can send 4020 kg (4 tonnes) to Mars.[27]

Modifications from previous model

Modifications in the upgraded version, relative to the previous version (Falcon 9 v1.1) include:

The modified design gained an additional 1.5 meters of height,[23] stretching to exactly 70 meters including payload fairing when fairings are used (the Dragon capsule version is somewhat shorter),[25] while gaining an overall performance increase of 33 percent.[13] The new first-stage engine has a much increased thrust-to-weight ratio.[29]

Vehicle description

Falcon 9 full thrust specifications and characteristics are as follows:[25]

Characteristic First stage Second stage
Height 70 m (230 ft), including both stages, interstage and fairing
Diameter 3.66 m (12.0 ft) 3.66 m (12.0 ft)
Structure type LOX tank: monocoque
Fuel tank: skin and stringer		 LOX tank: monocoque
Fuel tank: skin and stringer
Structure material Aluminum lithium skin; aluminum domes Aluminum lithium skin; aluminum domes
Engines 9 × Merlin 1D 1 x Merlin 1D Vacuum
Engine type Liquid, gas generator Liquid, gas generator
Propellant Subcooled liquid oxygen, kerosene (RP-1) Liquid oxygen, kerosene (RP-1)
Engine nozzle Fixed, 16:1 expansion Fixed, 165:1 expansion
Engine designer/manufacturer SpaceX / SpaceX SpaceX / SpaceX
Thrust (stage total)[3] 7,607 kN (1,710,000 lbf) (sea level) 934 kN (210,000 lbf) (vacuum)
Propellant feed system Turbopump Turbopump
Throttle capability[25] Yes: 760–530 kN (170,000–119,000 lbf)
(sea level)		 Yes: 930–360 kN (210,000–81,000 lbf)
(vacuum)
Restart capability Yes Yes, dual redundant TEA-TEB
pyrophoric igniters
Tank pressurization Heated helium Heated helium
Ascent attitude control
pitch, yaw		 Gimbaled engines Gimbaled engines and
nitrogen gas thrusters
Ascent attitude control
roll		 Gimbaled engines Nitrogen gas thrusters
Coast attitude control Nitrogen gas thrusters and grid fins (recovery only) Nitrogen gas thrusters
Shutdown process Commanded Commanded
Stage separation system Pneumatically-actuated separation mechanism N/A

The full thrust Falcon 9 uses an interstage that is longer and stronger than the Falcon 9 v1.1 interstage. It is a "composite structure consisting of an aluminum honeycomb core surrounded by a carbon fiber face sheet plies."[25]

The full thrust Falcon 9 upgraded vehicle "includes first-stage recovery systems, to allow SpaceX to return the first stage to the launch site after completion of primary mission requirements. These systems include four deployable landing legs, which are locked against the first-stage tank during ascent. Excess propellant reserved for Falcon 9 first-stage recovery operations will be diverted for use on the primary mission objective, if required, ensuring sufficient performance margins for successful missions."[25]

Launch and landing sites

Launch sites

SpaceX is using both Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base for launching Falcon 9 full thrust rockets, like its predecessor Falcon 9 v1.1.

SpaceX has "activated" an additional launch site in Florida for crewed Falcon 9 missions and all Florida Falcon Heavy missions at Launch Complex 39 leased from NASA at Kennedy Space Center.[31] Architectural and engineering design work on the pad modifications began in 2013, the contract to lease the pad from NASA was signed in April 2014, with construction commencing later in 2014,[32] including the building of a large Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) in order to house both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles with associated hardware and payloads during processing.[33] While "activated" indicate it is ready for launches of the Falcon Heavy rocket and also the Falcon 9, it has not yet been used by SpaceX and the first launch from that location is expected in 2016. Crew Access Arm and White Room work needs to be completed, before crewed launches.

An additional private launch site, intended solely for commercial launches, is currently under construction at Boca Chica Village near Brownsville, Texas[34] following a multi-state evaluation process in 2012–mid-2014 looking at Florida, Georgia, and Puerto Rico.[35][36]

Landing sites

SpaceX has completed construction of a landing zone at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, known as LZ-1. The zone, consisting of a pad 282 feet (86 m) in diameter, was first used on 16 December 2015 with a successful landing of Falcon 9 full thrust.[37] The landing on LZ-1 was the first overall successful Falcon 9 and the third landing attempt on a hard surface.

SpaceX also has begun construction of a landing site at the former launch complex SLC-4W at Vandenberg Air Force Base. As of 2014, the launch site was demolished for reconstruction as a landing site.[38]

SLC-4E (cropped)

Drone ships

Autonomous spaceport drone ships (ASDS) are used as landing sites when missions are of too high of a velocity to allow for a successful return to land. The ships, which are stationed hundreds of kilometers downrange, allow for recovery on missions requiring a high velocity before stage separation.[39][40]

The first ASDS, named Just Read the Instructions, was converted from a barge in late 2014 and was deployed in January 2015 during the CRS-5 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station in order to provide a landing platform for a test flight of the returning booster stage. The second ASDS, named Of Course I Still Love You, was converted from a much-newer deck barge and became operational in June 2015 to support a landing test on the CRS-7 mission. Both were operational on the east coast of the United States and based at Jacksonville, Florida. The third ASDS, also named (in January 2016) Just Read the Instructions, was partially refitted at a Louisiana shipyard in early 2015 and then transited to the Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal to the Port of Los Angeles, where it completed refit to become operational on the west coast of the United States in 2016.

On April 8, 2016, the Falcon 9 full thrust completed its first successful landing on a drone ship. After propelling the Dragon spacecraft on the SpaceX CRS-8 mission, the rocket's first stage returned to Earth and performed a controlled vertical landing on Of Course I Still Love You.[41]

On May 6, 2016, the Falcon 9 full thrust made another succesful landing on a drone ship on Falcon 9 Flight 24, the first succesful landing of the first stage of the rocket in a GTO launch mission. After propelling the heavy JCSAT-14 satellite out of the atmosphere, the rocket's first stage made a reentry burn and performed a controlled vertical landing on OCISLY drone ship.

References

  1. ↑ "Capabilities & Services". SpaceX. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Falcon 9 Launch Vehicle Payload User's Guide" (PDF). 21 October 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015. SpaceX uses one of two PAFs on the launch vehicle, based on payload mass. The light PAF can accommodate payloads weighing up to 3,453 kg (7,612 lb), while the heavy PAF can accommodate up to 10,886 kg (24,000 lb). Payloads must comply with the mass properties limitations given in Figure 3-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Falcon 9". SpaceX. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Falcon 9". SpaceX. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  5. ↑ Bergin, Chris (February 8, 2016). "SpaceX prepares for SES-9 mission and Dragon's return". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved February 9, 2016. The aforementioned Second Stage will be tasked with a busy role during this mission, lofting the 5,300kg SES-9 spacecraft to its Geostationary Transfer Orbit.
  6. ↑ Barbara Opall-Rome (12 October 2015). "IAI Develops Small, Electric-Powered COMSAT". DefenseNews. Retrieved 12 October 2015. At 5.3 tons, Amos-6 is the largest communications satellite ever built by IAI. Scheduled for launch in early 2016 from Cape Canaveral aboard a Space-X Falcon 9 launcher, Amos-6 will replace Amos-2, which is nearing the end of its 16-year life.
  7. 1 2 elonmusk (2015-12-17). "-340 F in this case. Deep cryo increases density and amplifies rocket performance. First time anyone has gone this low for O2. [RP-1 chilled] from 70F to 20 F" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  8. ↑ B. de Selding, Peter (16 October 2015). "SpaceX Changes its Falcon 9 Return-to-flight Plans". SpaceNews. Retrieved 27 January 2016. It can then use the extra muscle to return the rocket’s first stage to a landing platform even after missions to geostationary orbit. The Falcon v1.1, which will be used only once more, for a low-orbit mission for NASA, does not have sufficient power to perform a geostationary transfer orbit mission and a return of the rocket’s first stage, a maneuver that consumes substantial fuel on its own.
  9. ↑ Gwynne Shotwell (2014-03-21). Broadcast 2212: Special Edition, interview with Gwynne Shotwell (audio file). The Space Show. Event occurs at 08:15–11:20. 2212. Archived from the original (mp3) on 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2015-01-30. "[Falcon 9 v1.1] vehicle has about thirty percent more performance than what we put on the web and that extra performance is reserved for us to do our reusability and recoverability [tests] ... current vehicle is sized for reuse.
  10. ↑ Bergin, Chris (9 September 2015). "Full Thrust Falcon 9 stage undergoing testing at McGregor". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  11. 1 2 Svitak, Amy (17 March 2015). "SpaceX's New Spin on Falcon 9". Aviation Week. Aviation Week Network. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Graham, William (2015-12-21). "SpaceX returns to flight with OG2, nails historic core return". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 2015-12-22.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 de Selding, Peter B. (2015-09-15). "Falcon 9 Upgrades: F9 v1.1 (current vehicle) to F9 Upgrade". SpaceNews journalist twitter feed (SpaceX slide, republished on Twitter). Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  14. ↑ Gruss, Mike (25 January 2016). "Falcon 9 Upgrade gets Air Force OK to launch military satellites". SpaceNews. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Shotwell, Gwynne (3 February 2016). Gwynne Shotwell comments at Commercial Space Transportation Conference. Commercial Spaceflight. Event occurs at 2:43:15–3:10:05. Retrieved 4 February 2016. We're still going to call it 'Falcon 9' but it's the full thrust upgrade.
  16. ↑ Svitak, Amy (21 March 2015). "SpaceX's Gwynne Shotwell Talks Raptor, Falcon 9, CRS-2, Satellite Internet and More". Aviation Week and Space Technology. Penton. Retrieved 8 May 2015. So, we got the higher thrust engines, finished development on that, we're in [qualification testing]. What we're also doing is modifying the structure a little bit. I want to be building only two versions, or two cores in my factory, any more than that would not be great from a customer perspective. It's about a 30% increase in performance, maybe a little more. What it does is it allows us to land the first stage for GTO missions on the drone ship.
  17. ↑ de Selding, Peter B. (16 March 2015). "SpaceX Says Falcon 9 Upgrade Won’t Require New Certification". Space News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  18. ↑ Clark, Stephen (20 February 2015). "SES signs up for launch with more powerful Falcon 9 engines". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  19. ↑ Bergin, Chris (16 October 2015). "SpaceX selects ORBCOMM-2 mission for Falcon 9’s Return To Flight". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "Upgraded Falcon 9 First-Stage Static Fire | 9/21/15". Youtube. Google. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015. First static fire of the upgraded Falcon 9's first stage with densified propellant.
  21. ↑ Clark, Stephen (25 September 2015). "First static fire completed on upgraded Falcon 9". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "Spaceflight Now — Launch schedule". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 Clark, Stephen (2016-01-25). "Falcon 9 upgrade receives blessing from U.S. Air Force". SpaceflightNow. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  24. ↑ de Selding, Peter B. (2015-03-20). "SpaceX Aims To Debut New Version of Falcon 9 this Summer". Space News. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Falcon 9 Launch Vehicle Payload User's Guide, Rev 2" (PDF). SpaceX. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  26. ↑ elonmusk (24 November 2015). "@TobiasVdb The F9 booster can reach low orbit as a single stage if not carrying the upper stage and a heavy satellite." (Tweet). Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  27. ↑ http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities
  28. 1 2 3 4 Foust, Jeff (15 September 2015). "SES Betting on SpaceX, Falcon 9 Upgrade as Debut Approaches". Space News. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  29. 1 2 "Thomas Mueller's answer to Is SpaceX's Merlin 1D's thrust-to-weight ratio of 150+ believable?". Quora. 2015-06-08. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  30. ↑ Svitak, Amy (5 March 2013). "Falcon 9 Performance: Mid-size GEO?". Aviation Week. Retrieved 2013-03-09. "Falcon 9 will do satellites up to roughly 3.5 tonnes, with full reusability of the boost stage, and Falcon Heavy will do satellites up to 7 tonnes with full reusability of the all three boost stages," [Musk] said, referring to the three Falcon 9 booster cores that will comprise the Falcon Heavy's first stage. He also said Falcon Heavy could double its payload performance to GTO "if, for example, we went expendable on the center core."
  31. ↑ Space News SpaceX seeks to accelerate Falcon 9 production and launch rates this year Feb 4, 2016
  32. ↑ "NASA signs over historic Launch Pad 39A to SpaceX". collectSpace. 2014-04-14. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  33. ↑ Bergin, Chris (2015-07-01). "Pad 39A – SpaceX laying the groundwork for Falcon Heavy debut". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  34. ↑ "SpaceX breaks ground at Boca Chica beach". Brownsville Herald. 2014-09-22.
  35. ↑ "Texas, Florida Battle for SpaceX Spaceport". Parabolic Arc. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
  36. ↑ Dean, James (2013-05-07). "3 states vie for SpaceX's commercial rocket launches". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2013-09-29.
  37. ↑ Davenport, Christian (21 December 2015). "Elon Musk’s SpaceX returns to flight and pulls off dramatic, historic landing". The Washington Post.
  38. ↑ SpaceX Demolishes SLC-4W Titan Pad. YouTube. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  39. ↑ elonmusk (12 January 2016). "Aiming to launch this weekend and (hopefully) land on our droneship. Ship landings needed for high velocity missions" (Tweet).
  40. ↑ elonmusk (17 January 2016). "If speed at stage separation > ~6000 km/hr. With a ship, no need to zero out lateral velocity, so can stage at up to ~9000 km/h." (Tweet).
  41. ↑ "SpaceX Rocket Makes Spectacular Landing on Drone Ship". Phenomena. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
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