Testing to Begin for SpaceX Falcon 9 First Stage Tank
Falcon 9 First Stage fuel tank. (SpaceX photo)
EL SEGUNDO, CA, April 16, 2007 - Satnews Daily - The first stage tank of the Falcon 9 launcher will soon be shipped to the Texas Test Facility of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) for proof testing, integration of the propulsion system and a full stage firing later this year. Falcon 9 is scheduled for a first flight in the second quarter of 2008.
Falcon 9 is a two stage, liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) powered launch vehicle that has the same engines, structural architecture (with a wider diameter), avionics and launch system as the smaller Falcon 1.
SpaceX has six Falcon 9 flights contracted. The first is a demonstration flight for a US government customer. The sixth flight, scheduled for the third quarter of 2009, carries the company’s Dragon capsule and will demonstrate delivery of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the NASA COTS (commercial off the shelf) program.
SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles intended to reduce the cost and increase the reliability of both manned and unmanned space transportation ultimately by a factor of ten.
With its Falcon line of launch vehicles, SpaceX is able to offer light (with the Falcon 1), medium and heavy lift capabilities (with the Falcon 9) to deliver satellites into any inclination and altitude, from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions.
The Dragon spaceship is designed to transport up to seven astronauts, as well as both pressurized and unpressurized cargo, to Earth orbit and back. Dragon's universal docking adapter allows it to interface with all current ISS docking/berthing systems, as well as future systems under development.
The Falcon 9 first stage tank walls and domes are made from aluminum 2198. SpaceX uses an all friction stir welded tank, the highest strength and most reliable welding technique available. Like Falcon 1, the interstage, which connects the upper and lower stage for Falcon 9, is a carbon fiber aluminum core composite structure. The separation system is a larger version of what is used on Falcon 1 – pneumatic pushers with pyrotechnic release bolts.
Nine SpaceX Merlin engines power the Falcon 9 first stage with 101,900 lbs-f sea level thrust per engine for a total thrust on liftoff of just under 1 Million lbs-f. After engine start, Falcon is held down until all vehicle systems are verified to be functioning normally before release for liftoff. Although in-flight failures are very rarely explosive, a Kevlar shield protects each engine from debris in the event of its neighbor failing.
Founded in 2002, SpaceX is a space-transportation startup company whose goal is to improve the cost and reliability of access to space. SpaceX is developing a family of partially reusable two-stage kerosene–liquid-oxygen launch vehicles.
