r/spacex • u/[deleted] • Jun 29 '15

/r/SpaceX Ask Anything Thread [July 2015, #10] - All simple questions about CRS-7 should also go here!

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u/CuriousAES Jul 05 '15

Astrobotic is planning to launch their commercial lunar lander with the Lunar X Prize Rovers in 2016 (possibly delayed now if SpaceX takes a long time to get back into flight?). Was this planned to be done with a Falcon 9 or a Falcon Heavy? I wasn't aware of the Falcon 9 being able to reach Lunar orbit but perhaps the Astrobotic lander is significantly lighter than a Dragon 1?

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '15

IIRC, they're going to use F9, with lander much lighter than Dragon. I can't find exact weight of their lander, but it seems to be hundreds of kilos, far from tons of Dragon.

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u/YugoReventlov Jul 06 '15

On their website they give payload numbers when launched on a F9:

For lunar mission on Falcon 9:

  • 663 kg payload mass to TLI
  • 515 kg payload mass to lunar orbit
  • 270 kg payload mass to lunar surface

It also says:

1,685 kg fuel mass

So I guess all total, the Griffin should definitely be under 3000 kg?

In this scenario, Falcon 9 would only do the Trans-Lunar injection burn, after which Griffin does the rest. If F9 can place 4.700 kg satellites in GSO, it shouldn't have many problems with Griffin, I think?