Spacex Falcon 9 Block 5 targets 24 hour turnaround, no refurbishment reuse and relaunch a dozen times _ NextBigFuture

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Spacex Falcon 9 Block 5 targets 24 

hour turnaround, no 

refurbishment reuse and relaunch 

a dozen times 

brian wang | August 29, 2017 | 67 comments 

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Spacex Chief tech officer Tom Mueller discussed the next-gen 

Falcon 9, called the “Block 5,” which will have a reusable 

thermal protection that won’t burn up the heat shielding. It will 

also have retractable legs that will only come out during 

landing. The Falcon 9 Block 5 will have a 24-hour turnaround 

and be much cheaper and is expected to be flying by the end of 

2017. 

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With a cheaper design comes a few tradeoffs. The Block 5 has 

a single Merlin engine on it, although it’s a fairly sophisticated 

version of the engine. It uses some of the same tech — like the 

guidance computer — from the Falcon 9 (which has 9 Merlin 

engines), though. Mueller says the Block 5 has a significantly 

lower cost but the performance is “marginal.” 

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The Falcon 9 Block 5 is expected to be far more reusable than 

the Block 3. Shotwell said a Block 5 booster could relaunch “ a 

dozen or so times.” The Block 3, by comparison, has an 

estimated life of two or three missions. 

Shotwell said the Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 won’t need 

refurbishing, but will mainly undergo inspections prior to 

launch, streamlining the process compared to the first reused 

boosters. 

Block 5 will feature: 

For increased payload: 

* 7–8% more thrust by upgrading the engines, 

* an improved flight control system for an optimized angle of 

attack on descent, lowering landing fuel requirements. 

For rapid reusability: 

* Forged, more temperature-resistant titanium grid fins, 

* a thermal protection coating on the first stage to limit reentry 

heating damage, 

* a set of retractable landing legs for rapid recovery and 

shipping, 

* a reusable heat shield protecting the engines and plumbing at 

the base of the rocket. 

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A recent analysis posted on reddit of Spacex costs with ten 

reuses suggests a maintained profit margin with costs that are 

about 40-50% of a non-usable Spacex flight. 

SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told the Space 

Symposium conference that the cost of refurbishing the Falcon 

9 rocket that originally flew the CRS-8 Space Station resupply 

mission last year for SES-10 was “substantially less than half” 

what it would have cost to build a brand new one. That’s 

despite doing a lot to bring the recovered rocket back to 

operational condition. The new Block 5 rocket that would not 

need refurbishment could deliver on the speed and cost saving 

for reusable rockets. 

Arabsat will be the first customer for the Falcon Heavy when it 

begins commercial service in 2018, following a demonstration 

mission later this year. 

Falcon Raptor 

Shotwell has hinted at the possibility of a future version of 

Spacex rockets that could use the Raptor engines designed for 

transportation to Mars. Shotwell said Raptor, a liquid methane 

and oxygen engine for SpaceX’s interplanetary spaceship, has 

undergone “many dozens of tests” and is progressing well. 

“The original idea for those engines were to serve as a

propulsion system for the big Mars system, but we are looking 

at the utility of it on the Falcon program,” she said. 

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5G and Internet of Things are ramping up and 

Intel is ready to make them work efficiently | 


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and-internet-of-things-are-ramping-up-and- 

Enrique Moreno 1 day(s) ago 

(https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/08/spacex-falcon-9-block-5- 

targets-24-hour-turnaround-no-refurbishment-reuse-and-relaunch- 

I read the source and it is very strange. They sayd that the block 

5 will have only one merlin engine instead of 9 (would be that 

Mueller was talking about the second stage?), they said also that 

the mars rocket is the falcon heavy... 

0 ▲ 0 ▼ Reply Actions 

 

a-dozen- 

times.html#sot_aab19f73ee47e256bf3b8e8efdc818bdb541b495) 

Steven in reply to Enrique Moreno 

f I read the source and it is ve... more » 

20 hour(s) ago 

(https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/08/spacex-falcon- 

9-block-5-targets-24-hour-turnaround-no-refurbishment- 

reuse-and-relaunch-a-dozen-

4a3ccd) 

The first stage still has 9 engines and the second still 

has one. The only difference is the engines have been 

improved and uprated for a bit more thrust. The heavy 

version has 27 first stage engines (9 on each booster 

and 9 on the cor stage). Then in the table for the falcon 

9 they list 13.5 engines. I think the the aditional 4.5 is 

referring to the additionally thrust the engines produce. 

The table also list 2 second stage engines but everything 

I have heard is one with a larger more efficient vacuum 

nozzle. 


 

Alwin Barni 

in reply to 

Enrique Moreno 


21 hour(s) ago 

reuse-and-relaunch-a-dozentimes.html#sot_0c4465a7170d432844a902c027dfb09c97 



06cdbc) 

Exactly. This 'one Merlin engine' makes me question the 

quality of this article entirely (and unfortunately others 

as well). It does not seem possible to have enough 

thrust with one engine, and as for the second stage - it 

does have only one. If it was Raptor, then maybe, but 

still it would be entirely different rocket. 

Seriously Mr Wang, what are you talking about? 


 

Kerry Chivers in reply to Enrique Moreno 


1 day(s) ago 

reuse-and-relaunch-a-dozen- 

times.html#sot_fdd26f00256815b00680807c622a2a56c8 



41759f) 

Same here - quite confusing. If it has one engine then it 

can't be a Falcon 9 as the number denotes the number 

of engines. Except that Falcon Heavy won't be called 

Falcon 27, for rather obvious reasons. 


 

reuse-and-relaunch-a-dozen- 

times.html#sot_e8d2089517d12111f4ece670352db54988 

vl hc 1 day(s) ago 

(https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/08/spacex-falcon-9-block-5- 

targets-24-hour-turnaround-no-refurbishment-reuse-and-relaunch- 

a-dozen- 

times.html#sot_a46853bfdef31b18eea41833b075b195aa2fe420) 

The great thing about not going public is you don't have to 

release your finances, gives fans a lot more room to fantasize 

about profit. Just imagine how much more "profit" Tesla would 

be making, at least according to fans, if they can also keep 

financial data a secret.

financial data a secret. 

Unfortunately for customers they have to pay the list price, not 


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