3 THOUGHTS ON “Stuff That’s Hard to Do (Falcon9 Starlink)”
I’m wondering if Elon will pull boosters at 20 launches to refurbish, or if he’ll keep flying them some more.
20 is a nice round number, and vehicle/cargo losses would be expensive.
I thought boosters were inspected and refurbished as needed after each successful landing.
Though, to your point, I would think boosters have an EOL beyond which they’re not used any more.
Blake,
IIRC, the boosters were originally designed/expected to be good for ten launch cycles before what I think of as a major overhaul before being returned to duty.
I don’t remember hearing anything about an end of life number of cycles.
And of course they are inspected and repaired as needed after each cycle.
I’m wondering if Elon will pull boosters at 20 launches to refurbish, or if he’ll keep flying them some more.
20 is a nice round number, and vehicle/cargo losses would be expensive.
I thought boosters were inspected and refurbished as needed after each successful landing.
Though, to your point, I would think boosters have an EOL beyond which they’re not used any more.
Blake,
IIRC, the boosters were originally designed/expected to be good for ten launch cycles before what I think of as a major overhaul before being returned to duty.
I don’t remember hearing anything about an end of life number of cycles.
And of course they are inspected and repaired as needed after each cycle.