Author Topic: Where will F9 flights 14 & 15 attempt "solid surface" landings?  (Read 265853 times)

Offline Kabloona

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SpaceX has announced that F9 flights 14 & 15 will attempt "solid surface" landings. Where will that "solid surface" be? (These will be Cape launches).

Offline edkyle99

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SpaceX has announced that F9 flights 14 & 15 will attempt "solid surface" landings. Where will that "solid surface" be? (These will be Cape launches).
Do we know the payloads?  That will help.

 - Ed Kyle

Offline Kabloona

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Now shown as Orbcomm and CRS-5.

And Ed, you pointed out in another thread the mention of landing on a "floating launch pad," so that does open the door to the notion of a barge landing attempt with the barge anchored near shore. Which might be easier for SpaceX to get approval for at this point than an attempted landing on Cape terra firma.

Edit: corrected "Cape" per Jim.  ;)
« Last Edit: 07/22/2014 09:38 pm by Kabloona »

Offline QuantumG

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Orbcomm OG2 and TurkmenSat 1 according to Wikipedia.
Orbcomm OG2 and CRS-5 according to SpaceX's manifest.

Human spaceflight is basically just LARPing now.

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Orbcomm OG2 and TurkmenSat 1 according to Wikipedia.
Orbcomm OG2 and CRS-5 according to SpaceX's manifest.

I think the Wikipedia editor that interprets the statement that way is wrong - TurkmenSat 1 weighs 4.5 tonnes and goes GTO so it would definitely require high performance, definitely not a candidate for the landing attempt flights. I have make the changes at Wikipedia so that it would fit with SpaceX's manifest as well as the press release wording.  ;)
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Online Galactic Penguin SST

Wikipedia more likely correct, I would think, since TurkmenSat probably a low-energy mission that should leave plenty of margin for boostback.

Nope, TurkmenSat is a 4.5 tonne comsat going to geostationary - far from being a low-energy mission. In fact Turkmenistan originally asks the Chinese to launch it (on their most powerful rocket right now - the Long March 3B - would have happened next month if the plan was followed), until ITAR revisions caught up with satellite producer Thales Alenia Space and it can't be launched by the Chinese!  ::)
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Offline Kabloona

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Thanks, GalacticPenguin, mistaken assumption deleted.  ;)

So, where will they attempt landing? On Cape terra firma, or on a barge?

Edit: corrected to "Cape" per Jim  ;)
« Last Edit: 07/22/2014 09:42 pm by Kabloona »

Offline Jim

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FYI, they are not landing nor do they launch from KSC.  The launch and landing sites are on the Cape.  KSC=/ Cape

Offline mmeijeri

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Are there any disused oil platforms with helipads in a location that could be used?
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Offline Kabloona

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FYI, they are not landing nor do they launch from KSC.  The launch and landing sites are on the Cape.  KSC=/ Cape

Duly noted. Now, since we have your attention, where will they try to land?

Offline Lars_J

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FYI, they are not landing nor do they launch from KSC.  The launch and landing sites are on the Cape.  KSC=/ Cape

Duly noted. Now, since we have your attention, where will they try to land?

Speculation on this forum has been that the following two areas are contenders for early landing attempts. (see image)

Offline Zed_Noir

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...
Speculation on this forum has been that the following two areas are contenders for early landing attempts. (see image)
Think it more likely at location B IMO. Is that LC-46?

Offline GalacticIntruder

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If they options, would it depend on launch trajectories? Sometimes SpaceX heads to the equator, sometimes they head northeasterly. I would think the shortest distance is the best option all else equal.
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Offline Jim

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FYI, they are not landing nor do they launch from KSC.  The launch and landing sites are on the Cape.  KSC=/ Cape

Duly noted. Now, since we have your attention, where will they try to land?

LC-13 was mentioned

Offline Kabloona

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FYI, they are not landing nor do they launch from KSC.  The launch and landing sites are on the Cape.  KSC=/ Cape

Duly noted. Now, since we have your attention, where will they try to land?

LC-13 was mentioned

I seem to recall that the master plan map showed a planned circular landing pad north of the LC-39 complex. I think that's the area that Lars_J marked "A" on his map above. Has work started on that pad yet?
« Last Edit: 07/22/2014 11:52 pm by Kabloona »

Offline wannamoonbase

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It will be a long time before anything launches or lands northo of LC39.  It's a swamp, a protected national park swamp.

There is plenty of developed land at CCAFS that hasn't been used in decades.  Easy access to roads back to SpaceX facilities.

I was watching a YouTube montage last night of launch failures. It is curious to me that we've become so nervous of a nearly empty returning stage, with a flight termination system when back in the glory days fully loaded vehicles use to put on all kinds of fireworks.

I wish we could just grow a pair and go for it.  Worst case range safety blows it up.
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Offline Scylla

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I was just rereading the statement released by SpaceX with the video and was struck by this sentance.

Quote
At this point, we are highly confident of being able to land successfully on a floating launch pad or back at the launch site and refly the rocket with no required refurbishment.

Assuming they fly the core back and land somewhere at the Cape and it's now already there needing "no required refurbishment".........

They wouldn't be planning to.......

Naaahhhhh.....

Would they?
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Offline Lars_J

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Would you care to spell out what you are thinking?

Offline Scylla

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I have simply observed that SpaceX likes to move much faster with their testing than others generally do.

They don't skip steps, but they move fast.

Perhaps, if they get a core to return to the Cape, they will leave it there and relaunch it.

I doubt they could do it with a paying payload, but I could see Elon loading a dummy paylod and launching it just to show he could.
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Offline AncientU

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I have simply observed that SpaceX likes to move much faster with their testing than others generally do.

They don't skip steps, but they move fast.

Perhaps, if they get a core to return to the Cape, they will leave it there and relaunch it.

I doubt they could do it with a paying payload, but I could see Elon loading a dummy paylod and launching it just to show he could.

EM is on record as saying they'll land a core on land this year and relaunch a used core next year... so yah, that's what's happening.

Note: I suspect the returned core(s) will undergo re-testing at McGregor until they're sure of launch integrity
« Last Edit: 07/23/2014 01:03 am by AncientU »
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