In this interview with the Royal Aeronautical Society, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is asked about a rumored new project called the Raptor MCT (4:28): MUSK: “Now and again, I just throw something out just for fun. I can confirm that the name of the engine is Raptor. I’d like to announce maybe some details about the engine next year. But, perhaps what’s even more interesting is the spaceship that that’s […]

SpaceX PR — On November 1, 2012, SpaceX’s Grasshopper — a 10-story vertical takeoff and landing (VTVL) vehicle — lifted nearly two stories in an 8-second duration test hop. The rocket rose 17.7 feet (5.4 meters), hovered, and touched back down safely on the pad at SpaceX’s rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. The Grasshopper program is a critical step toward achieving SpaceX’s goal of developing fully and rapidly reusable […]

Elon Musk says this was the “first flight of 10 story tall Grasshopper rocket using closed loop thrust vector & throttle control.”

SpaceX has been granted an experimental permit for its Grasshopper test vehicle, which is designed to test reusable technologies for the Falcon 9 rocket. Under the permit, SpaceX authorized to conduct: (1) An unlimited number of flights of the Grasshopper Reusable Launch Vehicle within the operating area identified by permit order A; and (2) Pre-flight and post-flight ground operations at McGregor Test Site associated with flight of the Grasshopper Reusable […]

First hop of the SpaceX reusable suborbital launch vehicle testbed Grasshopper in McGregor, TX.

Rand Simberg had a conversation with Elon Musk about SpaceX’s plans for a fully reusable Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Some of the key highlights:

• “It really comes down to what the staging Mach number would be,” Musk says, referencing the speed the rocket would be traveling at separation. “For an expendable Falcon 9 rocket, that is around Mach 10. For a reusable Falcon 9, it is around Mach 6, depending on the mission.” For the reusable version, the rocket must be traveling at a slower speed at separation because the burn must end early, preserving enough propellant to let the rocket fly back and land vertically. This also makes recovery easier because entry velocities are slower.
• However, the slower speed also means that the upper stage of the Falcon rocket must supply more of the velocity needed to get to orbit, and that significantly reduces how much payload the rocket can lift into orbit. “The payload penalty for full and fast reusability versus an expendable version is roughly 40 percent,” Musk says. “[But] propellant cost is less than 0.4 percent of the total flight cost. Even taking into account the payload reduction for reusability, the improvement is therefore theoretically over a hundred times.” (more…)

SpaceX's test site in McGregor, Texas. (Credit: SpaceX)

An FAA environmental assessment has given the OK for SpaceX to test its Grasshopper reusable launch vehicle at its site in McGregor, Texas. The RLV is designed to test technologies needed to fully recover Falcon 9 stages for reuse.

After reviewing and analyzing currently available data and information on existing conditions and the potential impacts of the Proposed Action, the FAA has determined that issuing an experimental permit to SpaceX for operation of the Grasshopper RLV at the McGregor test site would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment. Therefore, preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not required, and the FAA is issuing this FONSI. The FAA made this determination in accordance with all applicable environmental laws. The Final EA is incorporated by reference in this FONSI….

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