The SpaceX Steamroller

On August 24, 2017, SpaceX completed the 40th flight of the Falcon 9 launch system. It was the 12th launch in 2017.The rocket launched at 11:50 local time from a slightly foggy Vandenberg AFB at Space Launch Complex 4E and lifted the 475 kilogram Formosat-5 satellite into a near-polar sun-synchronous orbit.

The booster stage made a near perfect landing on the drone ship ‘Just Read The Instructions’ — being off dead center by only 0.7 meters (approximately 2 feet). This was the 9th landing out 9 attempts this year. Overall, SpaceX has successfully landed 15 boosters.

The payload was the lightest load ever carried into space by the Falcon 9. The reason for this is that the Formosat-5 was originally contracted to launch on board the much smaller Falcon-1 rocket. However, due to very low demand at the time for a small scale launch vehicle, SpaceX ultimately canceled the Falcon 1 program and moved the payload to the Falcon 9 to ride share with the SHERPA space tug.

Unfortunately, after the delays caused by the loss of the cargo mission to the International Space Station in 2015 and testing failure in September of 2016, SHERPA was forced to launch with another provider, leaving Formosat-5 as the sole payload for this launch.

The bright side of this very light payload is that the booster is in fantastic shape leaving it available for reuse — perhaps to launch another set of Iridium NEXT satellites or SES-11 (SES was the first SpaceX customer to fly on a previously flown booster). The reuse of boosters will ultimately drive down costs and make space much more available to businesses and tourists.

The incredible pace SpaceX has shown this year with launching rockets does not seem to be stopping. After delivering their heaviest payload ever to GTO (Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit) in July, they had to stand down for 6 weeks for scheduled range maintenance. Prior to that they had just reached a steady cadence of two weeks (or less!) between launches. After resuming launches with the latest cargo supply to the ISS, that are back to a 2 week cadence into September.

Later this year will feature the restart of the LC-40 launch facility which was damaged by the testing mishap in September 2016. Following that, the historic LC-39A, the pad that launched the moon missions and many Space Shuttle missions, will be upgraded to support commercial crew missions and the new Falcon Heavy launch system.

When it launches Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. It will have the capability to launch deep space missions and even send passengers around the moon. It is currently planned to launch in November.

All in all, this has been a banner year for SpaceX. They have returned to flight after a devastating testing failure last year. They have activated LC-39A. They have reused 2 first stage boosters. They have flown their first national security space mission. And they have made great progress on their space suits and crew dragon capsules.

In the coming months, they will fly the USAF X-37B space plane, reuse at least one more booster, fly the Falcon Heavy, and finish preparations to launch humans into space (scheduled to happen next year!). An exciting year, indeed.

Ad Astra!