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http://www.floridatoday.com/story/t...aunch-falcon-rocket-next-month-ksc/101334150/
SpaceX’s next re-launch of a Falcon 9 rocket booster is targeted for next month, for a mission launching a Bulgarian communications satellite from Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX in March proved that Falcon rockets can be reused with a successful launch of the SES-10 communications satellite from KSC, using a first stage that had first launched a year earlier.
This time, the turnaround time between missions will be significantly shorter — five months instead of 12, if a mid-June target date holds.
The BulgariaSat-1 satellite will ride atop the Falcon booster that launched Iridium Communications satellites from California on Jan. 14, SpaceX’s first flight following a launch pad explosion last September.
The booster landed on a ship in the Pacific Ocean, one of 10 stages that SpaceX has landed and recovered to date.
Reusable Falcon 9 rocket is a triumph for SpaceX's Elon Musk
Maxim Zayakov, CEO of Bulsatcom and BulgariaSat, said he didn’t think using a “flight proven” booster, as SpaceX refers to its recovered rockets, added risk to the mission.
“In fact, we think the other way around,” Zayakov told FLORIDA TODAY. “Because a flight proven first stage has all its systems already used in flight, and it is very thoroughly checked after that, too. So we think that this is a good choice and, yes, of course it saved us some money.”
Exactly how much, Zayakov would not say. Space Systems Loral, the California-based satellite manufacturer, is responsible for the launch contract and insurance.
But Zayakov said the savings was meaningful.
“At the end of the day, it helps the whole arithmetic and makes this project more financially viable,” he said.
Zayakov said insurers supported the decision to reuse a rocket, but the terms improved after the successful SES-10 mission.
Buy Photo
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 7:15 a.m. Monday, May 1, 2017. The rocket is carrying a classified National Reconnaissance Office mission. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY
SpaceX’s next re-launch of a Falcon 9 rocket booster is targeted for next month, for a mission launching a Bulgarian communications satellite from Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX in March proved that Falcon rockets can be reused with a successful launch of the SES-10 communications satellite from KSC, using a first stage that had first launched a year earlier.
This time, the turnaround time between missions will be significantly shorter — five months instead of 12, if a mid-June target date holds.
The BulgariaSat-1 satellite will ride atop the Falcon booster that launched Iridium Communications satellites from California on Jan. 14, SpaceX’s first flight following a launch pad explosion last September.
The booster landed on a ship in the Pacific Ocean, one of 10 stages that SpaceX has landed and recovered to date.
Reusable Falcon 9 rocket is a triumph for SpaceX's Elon Musk
Maxim Zayakov, CEO of Bulsatcom and BulgariaSat, said he didn’t think using a “flight proven” booster, as SpaceX refers to its recovered rockets, added risk to the mission.
“In fact, we think the other way around,” Zayakov told FLORIDA TODAY. “Because a flight proven first stage has all its systems already used in flight, and it is very thoroughly checked after that, too. So we think that this is a good choice and, yes, of course it saved us some money.”
Exactly how much, Zayakov would not say. Space Systems Loral, the California-based satellite manufacturer, is responsible for the launch contract and insurance.
But Zayakov said the savings was meaningful.
“At the end of the day, it helps the whole arithmetic and makes this project more financially viable,” he said.
Zayakov said insurers supported the decision to reuse a rocket, but the terms improved after the successful SES-10 mission.
Buy Photo
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 7:15 a.m. Monday, May 1, 2017. The rocket is carrying a classified National Reconnaissance Office mission. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY
