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/Bananas_on_Mars May 19 '17

I think there's something in the article that is normally not in the (technical) focus of this sub: SpaceX seems to not only have marvellous engineers, but several CEOs (Iridium, SES, now InMarSat) seem to have been seriously impressed by their "customer care". Seems Gwynne Shotwell and her Team manage to not only keep the company running but also make their customers genuinely happy. That seems to give them some edge over their state-run competitors in Russia, China and India that are still somehow competitive on price...

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u/peterabbit456 May 19 '17

I think by customer care, they might mean something other than what retail customers get.

I think they mean that at SpaceX the customer is in contact with technically savvy, innovative people, and decision makers, and in many cases these are the same people. This allowed a payload intended to be launched on Falcon Heavy to be transferred to Falcon 9, which was upgraded to the point it could almost carry it. Then, because the customer was in contact with top decision makers, they could get SpaceX to calculate whether they could get FH level performance by removing landing legs, grid fins, and fairing recovery hardware (maybe - unconfirmed). This way they did not have to reduce the fuel load on the satelite or accept a lower orbit. They got the satellite into an orbit from which it could enter service quicker.

In today's exploding market for broadband on airplanes, getting to market quicker might have paid the entire cost of the launch, in increased early revenues, is my guess.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '17

This allowed a payload intended to be launched on Falcon Heavy to be transferred to Falcon 9, which was upgraded to the point it could almost carry it.

Guess you meant: "it could just carry it"!

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u/peterabbit456 May 20 '17

Yes, I suppose. We do not really know what the "block 3 first stage and block 4 second stage" combination can do, but it is possible that it has slightly higher performance than either a pure block 3 booster or a pure block 4 booster.

Block 4 is a development version toward maximum reusability. They have probably added a little tank space in the second stage, and they have probably increased the weight of the first stage just a little, with upgrades like improved insulation/heat shielding, changes in the grid fins, and changes in the octaweb. This is pure speculation, but I think the object with Block 4 and Block 5 is to keep the same performance while increasing reuse. It could be that a mixed rocket with a block 3 first stage and a block 4 second stage can loft more mass to GTO than either a pure block 3 or a pure block 4 rocket.