First flight of a stage of Falcon 9 for the third time and failure in the landing of the stage of the SpX-16...

diciembre 15, 2018

First flight of a stage of Falcon 9 for the third time and failure in the landing of the stage of the SpX-16... https://danielmarin.naukas.com/files/2018/12/45257570925_1c97219685_k-683x1024.jpg

First flight of a stage of Falcon 9 for the third time and failure in the landing of the stage of the SpX-16 mission

On December 3, 2018 at 18:34 UTC SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 rocket from the SLC-4E ramp of the Vandenberg Air Base (California). The news would not be anything special at this point were it not for two particularities. The first is that in this mission 64 small satellites were put in orbit, which is not a world record (in possession of India, with 104 satellites launched in the same mission), but it is for SpaceX. This was the first mission dedicated to launching satellites of small size, SSO-A (SmallSat Express Mission), to launch small satellites into low heliosynchronous orbit (SSO). The 64 satellites (15 microsatellites and 49 cubesats) belonged to 34 organizations from 17 different countries (including Spain). The second remarkable fact is that this was the first time that the first stage of a Falcon 9 was used for the third time. The stage, B1046, had been used in the first flight of a Block 5 in May 2018 during which the Bangabandhu satellite was placed in orbit. It was later used in the mission launched by the Merah Putih satellite in August 2018.

Launch of the SSO-A mission from Vandenberg, the first time a first stage of a Falcon 9 is used for the third time (SpaceX).

So far all the stages of Falcon 9 had made two flights at most. The Block 5 variant of Falcon 9 was introduced in May of this year precisely to allow multiple reuses, but the process has turned out to be more complex than expected, especially with respect to certain elements of the stage, such as the landing gear. Stage B1046 landed later on the barge Just Read the Instructions, located about 50 kilometers off the coast of California. Curiously, this stage has taken off from three different ramps throughout its three missions: the 39A and the SLC-40 in Florida and the SLC-4E in California.

Launch of the SSO-A mission from Vandenberg (SpaceX).

This mission is the 32 nd occasion in which SpaceX manages to recover a first stage of Falcon 9 and the sixth time that a stage lands on the barge Just Read the Instructions. In total SpaceX has recovered 22 different stages, four of them of type Block 5. It has also been the 19th launch of SpaceX in 2018, surpassing the record of 18 launches made last year. The cap of the mission could not land on the ship Mr Steven, but it landed gently by parachute and the two halves were recovered after getting slightly wet. According to Elon Musk, this will not prevent it from being reused in a later mission.

Stage B1046 after successful landing in Just Read the Instructions (SpaceX).

The fifth stage Block 5, B1050, took off on December 5, 2018 in the 66th mission of a Falcon 9 in which successfully placed the Dragon SpX-16 cargo ship into orbit. Unfortunately, the stage could not be recovered because it lost control during the descent due to a failure with the hydraulic pump that controls the grids and was not able to land vertically in the LZ-1 area of Cape Canaveral, falling into the water. The cost of losing a Block 5 stage is much higher than previous versions, but, as we can see, they can be cast on more occasions. The last time that SpaceX failed to recover a successful stage, leaving aside the missions where it got rid of the first stage on purpose, was in the first release of Falcon Heavy in February this year. On that occasion it was not possible to recover the central stage, B1033, which crashed into the barge. Despite the loss of the B1050, SpaceX has nine or ten Block 5 stages ready to be used (stages B1051 to B1057 have not yet flown). One of lime and one of sand for SpaceX in a year that has been very positive for the Hawthorne company, although not as much as they expected.

Stage B1050 returns to the coast of Florida after the release of the Dragon SpX-16, but fails to land properly (John Kraus).

First stage has lost control. #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/0yiQQCOAd0

- Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) December 5, 2018

And it landed ... ..in the water ❌ # Falcon9 #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/peG7naRtIS

- For The Launch (@forthelaunch) December 5, 2018

Engines stabilized rocket spin just in time, enabling an intact landing in water! Ships en route to rescue Falcon. pic.twitter.com/O3h8eCgGJ7

- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2018

Currently drifting south offshore. pic.twitter.com/T0gALDaEN9

- Dane Drefke (@DaneDrefke) December 5, 2018

Few shots scoping out some of the work being done to secure the #SpaceX # CRS16 Falcon 9 for safe towing into @PortCanaveral. Divers from Logan Diving & Salvage have been working around the booster. #SpaceXFleet @AmericaSpace pic.twitter.com/tonDceBrqF

- Mike Killian (@KillianPhoto) December 6, 2018