Treating Space Access As A Consumer Product

SpaceX's final Falcon 9 design coming this year, two Falcon Heavy launches next year, SpaceNews

"We are flying Block 3s right now," Shotwell said. "Block 4s start flying shortly, and then Block 5 at the end of this year. We definitely have gotten better [at] more smooth introducing of change. You don't see the big impacts to production we've had before when we've changed vehicle designs." SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk had previously stated in an online question-and-answer session in October 2016 that Block 5 would be the final upgrade to the Falcon 9 design. The Falcon 9 Block 5 is expected to be far more reusable than the Block 3. Shotwell said a Block 5 booster could relaunch " a dozen or so times." The Block 3, by comparison, has an estimated life of two or three missions. Shotwell said the Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 won't need refurbishing, but will mainly undergo inspections prior to launch, streamlining the process compared to the first reused boosters."

SpaceX will try for third Falcon 9 launch in less than two weeks, SpaceflightNow

"After back-to-back launches last weekend, SpaceX could launch its next Falcon 9 mission as soon as Sunday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a high-power Intelsat communications satellite. Liftoff Sunday will hinge on the ability of SpaceX's launch team to prepare KSC's launch pad 39A for another flight after the successful June 23 blastoff of a Falcon 9 booster with the first Bulgarian-owned communications satellite."

SpaceX Launches Two Missions in Two Days (with videos), SpaceRef

"SpaceX has upped the ante when it comes to reusable launch systems. Within 49 hours the company launched and recovered two Falcon 9 first stages while putting it's customer's payloads safely into orbit."

Keith's note: Imagine if NASA adopted the same incremental product upgrading approach - one based on operational and customer experience/feedback - with forward and backward compatibility such as what SpaceX has adopted. Imagine also that this ability to improve a product is a feature inherent to the original product design and not an afterthought. Imagine all you want. NASA is incapable of doing this or even grasping how to do it - but there were faint glimmers of it during development of the Apollo/Saturn program. Cost and performance benefits aside, having a flexible space launch infrastructure like SpaceX has (I'm sure Blue Origin is no different) with inherent design resilience launched in a steady cadence is how space will be best utilized - not by using monster rockets that NASA cannot even afford to fly more than once every year or so.

from NASA Watch http://ift.tt/2uiop7m
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