А вот ещё интересная статья
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/we-may-have-just-witnessed-the-dawn-of-truly-commercial-spaceflight/Цитата:
Finally—because why not, when you're on a roll—he attempted to safely return the $6 million payload fairing at the top of the rocket. Even that met with at least partial success.
Вот про это я нигде не слышал. И payload fairing (обтекатель выводимого аппарата) находится выше второй ступени, как его пытались спасти?
Цитата:
he said he is now confident the company can reach its goal of 24-hour reusability.
Выглядит несколько смело, если учесть что из-за погоды запуски довольно часто откладываются.
Цитата:
And the company has plans to eventually recycle its payload fairing and second stages, as well.
Если ракета выводит спутник на GTO, то это выглядит голубой мечтой. Если на LEO––почему бы нет?
-- 31.03.2017, 19:45 --Оттуда же:
Цитата:
SpaceX hasn't been entirely open about how much work went into refurbishing the Falcon 9 rocket launched Thursday, which had previously flown to space in April 2016. But Musk said the company is finding that turning boosters around isn't too difficult, and from what it has learned in recent months, this is all doable.
Still, there are some lessons to be learned from the first stages recovered so far. The Falcon 9's base heat shield needs some work, and the stabilizing "grid fins" have caught fire due to atmospheric heating. To address this problem the company is forging new grid fins from titanium, which can tolerate heating better than the present aluminum-with-thermal-protection fins. The paint also burns off. "There are a bunch of little things, really," Musk said.
FURTHER READING
Sunday’s launch could be the start of an annus mirabilis for SpaceX
He believes the company has a clear path to his goal for the Falcon 9 rocket, however, a 24-hour turnaround from launch to landing to launch, with no maintenance. He believes the final version of the Falcon 9 optimized for reuse, set to fly late this year or early in 2018, will be capable of 10 flights "with no refurbishment," and 100 flights with "moderate refurbishment." 24-hour turnarounds should come by next year.
" Потом по ссылке прошел, дошло.
