By akademiotoelektronik, 07/03/2023

SpaceX: Never has a Falcon 9 rocket been used so much

SpaceX has succeeded in its recoverable and reusable rocket bet. On March 14, the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket completed its ninth round trip between Earth and space.

This weekend saw a new orbiting of 60 Starlink satellites, still in the framework of the megaconstellation project wanted by SpaceX to develop an Internet access offer from space. As usual, the mission went well: the payload could be deployed and the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket was recovered. The routine, in short.

The spectacular is elsewhere. In the flight characteristics, SpaceX said that this first stage is a veteran of the round trips between Earth and space: indeed, it has served nine times. It was mobilized five times for Starlink missions, but also three other times for the SXM-7 and Radarsat satellites, on two separate flights, and during the Crew Dragon Demo-1 demonstration.

A flagrant success for SpaceX

With the operation on Sunday, March 14, the counter rose to nine. The days when headlines announced that SpaceX was going to reuse the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket for the first time seem long gone. It was in 2017, almost four years ago. Since then, the company has changed in scope: it even participates in the rotation of crews between Earth and the International Space Station.

The successful recovery of the launcher's first stage obviously paves the way for a tenth mission with it, once its checkup is complete. Given the very high pace of its schedule (just for Starlink, there have been at least two missions per month since the beginning of the year, and three in March, with two others also planned), this could arrive very soon.

But above all, this illustrates in a spectacular way the success of SpaceX's bet, or rather of its two bets: an industrial bet first of all, with the creation of a launcher that can be reused and declinable (the Falcon Heavy, for example, is based on the Falcon 9), in order to reduce costs and facilitate mass production. A technological bet then, by succeeding in recovering the first floor, so that it can be used again.

The rocket, whose first stage is on its way to its ninth use. // Source: SpaceX

In 2017, SpaceX stated that its goal was to be able to launch each Falcon 9 first stage ten times, with only inspections between each launch. Its founder, Elon Musk, even declared that it would be possible to request it more than a hundred times, if its refurbishment was not excessively expensive. These comments came as a new version of the Falcon 9 was on the way.

This new version is the fifth evolution (“Block 5”) of the so-called v1.2 or Full Thrust version. The Block 5 version was inaugurated on May 11, 2018, and the stage was reused for the first time on August 7, 2018. But the technical base of the rocket (v1.2 / Full Thrust), it is a little older , since its very first flight dates back to December 2015. Among the various improvements, the Block 5 is easier to reuse.

The plans drawn up by SpaceX with the Falcon 9 v1.2 / Full Thrust Block 5 are de facto materializing, with a first stage which should soon experience its tenth flight. It was already a record in this area, with these nine round trips, and it is likely that it will not last long if the American company maintains such a tempo in 2021. In principle, it is at tenth flight that further revision will take place.

The lead that SpaceX has in the field of the reusable rocket should remain significant in the years to come. Nevertheless, the aerospace sector is moving: on the European side, a roadmap has been drawn up to also design a first stage that can be recovered and reused. Demonstrators (Callisto and Themis) have been announced and several stages must be completed by 2025.

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