SpaceX on June 30 is slated to make its first attempt to retrieve the Falcon 9 booster after launching a military satellite.
WASHINGTON – SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has to date made 86 launches, in 47 of which the first stage of the rocket landed on land.
While rocket launches have become the norm for SpaceX launches, nothing has yet been done on a national security mission.
SpaceX is about to make its first attempt to recover the reinforcement after launching a military satellite. On June 30, the company will launch a Global Positioning System satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
This will be SpaceX’s second GPS release. The first was in December 2018, but that mission used an expendable rocket with no legs or fishnet fins because the Air Force determined that the vehicle was unable to perform the required mission trajectory and also brought the first stage back.
The second GPS launch was originally contracted to use an expendable rocket as well, but over the past year, launch managers at the US Space Force Missile and Space Systems Center negotiated a deal with SpaceX to allow the company to recover the reinforcement.
SMC agreed to review some mission requirements so that SpaceX could return the booster, and in return, the company withdrew “several million dollars” from the launch price, said Walter Lauderdale, head of Falcon’s systems operations division at Launch. SMC Enterprise. The original contract awarded to SpaceX in 2017 was $ 96.5 million.
Speaking on June 26 during a call to reporters, Lauderdale said it took months of reviews and examinations of the Falcon 9 mission data before SMC decided it could make concessions to allow backup recovery and still carry the GPS satellite. to the intended location in middle Earth orbit. .
SpaceX’s extensive evaluations and some vehicle modifications “reduced uncertainty in many areas,” Lauderdale said.
Since launching in December 2018, SMC has gained more confidence that a Falcon 9 can meet the needs of the GPS mission and also bring the first stage back, Lauderdale said. “For this launch campaign flow, we completed 362 verification tasks and assessed more than 230 risks.”
“SpaceX used the experience of our first launch campaign together to improve their processes,” he said. “This led to a 40 percent reduction in the number of questions we put to them” compared to the first GPS mission.
“We evaluated the information on all SpaceX flights to ensure there is no cause for concern for this mission,” Lauderdale said.
But he cautioned that the decision to allow SpaceX to recover the booster on this mission does not mean that all national security missions are suitable for reusable rockets.
SpaceX is providing a new booster for this launch. There are currently no plans to use a pre-flown amp in future GPS releases. SpaceX is under contract to fly three more GPS missions in the next two years.
“I cannot compromise when we are ready” to allow SpaceX to launch a national security satellite using a previously flown booster, Lauderdale said. “Part of that journey is getting familiar with how SpaceX is doing its job.”
SMC in May awarded SpaceX a $ 8.9 million “fleet surveillance” contract that allows government engineers to monitor how SpaceX recovers and restores used reactors.
In the coming weeks, DoD will select two launch providers for the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 Launch Service Recruitment. Two of the bidders, SpaceX and Blue Origin, will offer reusable launch systems.
“In Phase 2, we allow providers to offer pre-flown systems,” Lauderdale said. “We are open to what the industry wants to make available to us.”
