Elon Musk says SpaceX has recovered BOTH rocket fairings from the ocean undamaged after Falcon Heavy launch and will reuse them for the first time
- SpaceX managed to recover both payload fairings from its Falcon Heavy rocket
- Boats were able to scoop the fairings out of the Atlantic without any damage
- They’ll now be put to work on Falcon 9 as part of a Starlink mission later this year
- Musk says each fairing costs $6 million to build, so reusing them saves money
SpaceX has managed to achieve yet another historic milestone.
Amid the fanfare of the Falcon Heavy successfully embarking on its second-ever trip to space, Elon Musk announced that his company was able to recover both fairing halves of the megarocket for the first time.
In a tweet late Thursday, Musk confirmed that both fairing halves were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean undamaged.
The next step is to put the fairings to work again on a Falcon 9 rocket that will blast additional Starlink satellites into orbit, scheduled for later this year.
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SpaceX has managed to achieve yet another historic milestone. Elon Musk announced that his company was able to recover both fairing halves of the megarocket for the first time (pictured)
‘Both fairings recovered,’ Musk wrote in a tweet. ‘Will be flown on Starlink mission later this year.’
In a reply to another user’s tweet, the tech mogul explained that each fairing has its own avionics system and nitrogen thrusters, as well as steerable parachutes, to help them return to Earth safely.
Now that they’ve been recovered, SpaceX will begin the process of cleaning up the fairings for re-use.
The fairing is a piece of material that’s part of the rocket’s nosecone, protecting the payload, which can include things like satellites, during launch.
The fairing is a piece of material that’s part of the rocket’s nosecone, protecting the payload, which includes things like satellites, during launch. Pictured is the fairing on a recovery boat
Musk has sought to recover and reuse the fairings for additional launches because they’re expensive to build.
He estimates that each fairing costs approximately $6 million, which equates to about 10 percent of the cost of a Falcon 9 launch.
SpaceX has tried to recover payload fairings during previous launches but to no avail.
The company even constructed a boat with a massive net attached, affectionately called Mr. Steven, to try to recover the fairings.
It appears that Mr. Steven wasn’t used during yesterday’s launch; instead, recovery boats were able to scoop the fairings out of the water and return them to land.
SpaceX constructed a boat with a massive net attached, affectionately called Mr. Steven (pictured), to try to recover the fairings. However, this time around, the boat wasn’t used
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket successfully took its second flight ever on Thursday afternoon, when it lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying Lockheed Martin’s Arabsat 6A communications satellite
But the fairing recovery wasn’t the only memorable achievement to come out of yesterday’s launch.
The launch marks the Falcon Heavy’s second-ever trip to space, as well as its first commercial mission, as the megarocket carried Lockheed Martin’s Arabsat 6A communications satellite into orbit.
SpaceX also managed to make history by landing three boosters back on Earth for the first time.
Just minutes into the launch, the giant rocket’s central core landed safely on SpaceX’s offshore barge in the Atlantic Ocean, dubbed ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ while the two side boosters landed back on pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Landing Zone 1 and 2.
‘We have landed the center core for the first time,’ a SpaceX announcer said. ‘Three for three boosters today for the Falcon Heavy.’
It’s been fourteen months since Falcon Heavy’s maiden launch, when it blasted off to become the most powerful rocket in use today.
The latest launch marked the first time Falcon Heavy flies using the new Block 5 hardware, which is designed to last longer than previous versions without the need for refurbishment.
WHY DOES SPACEX RE-USE ROCKETS AND OTHER PARTS?
SpaceX tries to re-use rockets, payload fairings, boosters and other parts to try to cut down on the cost of each rocket mission.
The total cost of one of its Falcon 9 launches is estimated to reach £44 million ($61m), while each of its larger Falcon Heavy flights costs £65 million ($90m).
The space company has previously re-used first-stage and second-stage rocket boosters, in addition to one of its previously flown Dragon capsules.
The Dragon spacecraft are used as the final stage of SpaceX missions to resupply the International Space Station.
In an incredible accomplishment, the Falcon Heavy’s reused side boosters landed smoothly back down to Earth on two separate launchpads about 8 minutes in.
SpaceX is currently testing a system to recover the fairings of its Falcon 9 rockets.
The payload fairings are clam shell-like nose cone halves that protect the craft’s payload.
SpaceX recovered a payload fairing for the first time in 2017.
During its first Falcon Heavy launch in February 2018, the firm landed two of the firms side boosters simultaneously on separate launchpads.
