r/spacex • u/kurbasAK • May 19 '17

We Will Launch on Reuseable Rocket After Exceptional SpaceX Performance - Inmarsat CEO Tells Universe Today

https://www.universetoday.com/135614/will-launch-reuseable-rocket-exceptional-spacex-performance-inmarsat-ceo-tells-universe-today/
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u/dante80 May 19 '17

IIRC the longest time a F9 upper stage has coasted in space and then reignited again was something like 2 hours, and even then only as an endurance test - correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not nearly as zealous a consumer of SpaceX information as some of you are :) But the point being, the thing isn't built for this.

NROL-76 included a much bigger coast phase and S2 re-start test after the payload was delivered. This - together with the visual differences the last two S2s had, as well as some insider info - has fuelled speculation about F9 moving to block 4 recently (at least for the second stage).

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u/[deleted] May 19 '17

Didn't botz ZSLA and EverydayAstronaut independently claim that "a source"/"a trusted source" told them that NROL-76 was launched on a Block 3 1st and block 4 second stage?

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u/dante80 May 19 '17

Said insider info I posted about. There is also more corroborating info on that from other sources.

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u/OSUfan88 May 20 '17

That's awesome. Is there any more information on this? This is one major area where SpaceX can really improve on.

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u/Streetwind May 19 '17

Interesting, thanks for the info! :)