US commercial launch provider SpaceX has secured an experimental permit to build and test its reusable launch vehicle (RLV) from the McGregor site in Texas.
SpaceX declined to comment on the RLV, called Grasshopper, which could lead to significantly…
US commercial launch provider SpaceX has secured an experimental permit to build and test its reusable launch vehicle (RLV) from the McGregor site in Texas.
SpaceX declined to comment on the RLV, called Grasshopper, which could lead to significantly lower launch costs if able to operate on a commercial basis.
However, an environmental impact statement filed with the Federation Aviation Administration on 22 September has shed some light on the mysterious rocket
According to the document, the 106ft tall RLV will be based on the first stage fuel tank of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. But instead of the nine Merlin engines onboard a normal Falcon 9, Grasshopper will have just one. It will also have four steel landing legs, and a steel support structure.
The statement also reveals that SpaceX does not plan to launch the rocket above 11,500ft, suggesting the tests are designed to prove whether it would be capable of taking off and landing vertically, conducting so called VTVL operations.
“SpaceX anticipates that the Grasshopper RLV programme would require up to three years to complete,” the statement reads.
Speaking about RLV challenges to delegates at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in August, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said: “There’s a reason that no one has invented a fully reusable rocket before – it’s super damn hard … but we have learnt a lot.”
Musk revealed that re-entry forces had been higher than anticipated, and the company was considering potentially restarting rocket engines on decent to shed some velocity and give it a more “benign” approach.
“It’s a tough trade on propellant versus dry mass,” he said. “We’ve got something that on paper closes and we’ll see if that turns out to be reality as well.”
Musk pointed to the success SpaceX is having in the development of its Falcon 9 rocket, which during an experiment late last year sent the group’s Dragon capsule into low Earth orbit before a Pacific Ocean splashdown.
The company, which is already receiving millions of dollars from NASA to develop a cargo-carrying spaceship, is also receiving public funds to explore ways of using its Dragon capsule to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
However, a SpaceX spokeswoman insisted the group was currently not receiving NASA funding to develop its Grasshopper programme.
Back in April, the private company told SatelliteFinance that it did not need to raise additional funds for any of its current operations, although Musk has said the group is considering filing an IPO by the end of 2012.
Going public would provide a significant boost for SpaceX, as the commercial validity of its long-term business model faces scepticism from the rest of the launch sector.
However, the group is not the only venture attempting to crack the reusable rocket market.
Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, the CEO of online retailer Amazon, has also been picking up similar NASA contracts and is working towards a vehicle like Grasshopper called New Shepard.
The venture declined to be interviewed, but in a blog post on 2 September, Bezos revealed that its most recent test of New Shepard had resulted in crash after its thrust was cut off by safety systems.
“Not the outcome any of us wanted, but we’re signed up for this to be hard, and the Blue Origin team is doing an outstanding job,” he wrote, adding that the group was already designing a new test vehicle.
