[AR] Re: thinking big once more
- From: Dave McMillan <skyefire@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2016 08:35:13 -0400
On 9/29/2016 11:57 PM, Ivan Vuletich wrote:
One thing I'm curious about with the BFR is that the booster is a
humongous single stage rather tan a cluster like Falcon Heavy.
With a cluster Spacex would have a more incremental development path
and more potential customers for single stick versions ala F9. Any
ideas on what could be driving this design choice?
I suppose that reuse logistics would be more complex and the
interstage would be harder. But I would think that it's a cheaper way
to get initial capability and seeing 5 or more stages coming in to
land in formation would be really cool!
SpaceX really seems to be aiming for logistical and operational
simplicity and streamlining over performance or development cost. Which
makes sense, for a system designed with the intended flight rates Musk's
presentation showed. One thing that caught my attention was that the
Booster is planned to RTLS, and *land back in the same spot it launched
from.* In fact, the intent is to have the Booster land right back into
"nesting slots" in the launch pad, such that it's final location is
within a couple inches (or less) of it's launch location. This appears
to be a key enabler in the (very ambitious, if not downright audacious)
plan to:
1. Launch with Spaceship or Tanker
2. Land
3. Refuel and restack with new Spacehip or Tanker
4. Launch again within... I *think* Elon said 20min? Or was it 90?
Either way, the plan is to cycle these things as fast as a small
regional airliner, if not faster.
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