SpaceX reusable launch system development program

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Published on August 8, 2021 1:04:26 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxoNIl6XA3s

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The SpaceX reusable launch system development program is a privately funded program to develop a set of new technologies for an orbital launch system that may be reused many times in a manner similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has been developing the technologies over several years to facilitate full and rapid reusability of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site in minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal is that both stages of their orbital launch vehicle will be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return.The program was publicly announced in 2011. SpaceX first achieved a successful landing and recovery of a first stage in December 2015. The first re-flight of a landed first stage occurred in March 2017 with the second occurring in June 2017, that one only five months after the maiden flight of the booster. The third attempt occurred in October 2017 with the SES-11/EchoStar-105 mission. Reflights of refurbished first stages then became routine. In May 2021, B1051 became the first booster to power ten missions.The reusable launch system technology was developed and initially used for the first stage of Falcon 9. After stage separation, the booster flips around, an optional boostback burn is done to reverse its course, a reentry burn, controlling direction to arrive at the landing site and a landing burn to effect the final low-altitude deceleration and touchdown.
SpaceX intended (from at least 2014) to develop technology to extend reusable flight hardware to second stages, a more challenging engineering problem because the vehicle is travelling at orbital velocity.
Second stage reuse is considered paramount to Elon Musk's plans to enable the settlement of Mars. Initial concepts to make the second stage of Falcon 9 reusable have been abandoned.As of 2021, SpaceX is actively developing the Starship system, with the intent to make it a fully-reusable two-stage launch vehicle, intended to replace all of its existing launch vehicles and spacecraft used for satellite delivery and human transport—Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon—and also eventually support flights to the Moon and Mars. In addition it could be used for point-to-point transportation on Earth.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_reusable_launch_system_development_program
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