American rocket Falcon 9: specifications and photos

June 28, 2015 at 17:21 (Moscow time) at the cosmodrome at Cape Canaveral failed the next launch of the carrier rocket "Falcon 9". The Falcon 9 was prepared by a private US company SpaceX, founded by Ilon Mask.

Falcon and NASA

NASA in 2008 signed a contract with the company to launch the launch vehicle Falcon 9 and the Dragon spacecraft. The very idea of producing such a type of carrier rocket is dictated by the fact that a series of unsuccessful launches of Space Shuttle followed. And Ilon Mask himself plans to reduce expenses for space flights by 10 times. However, this project at that time was estimated at $ 1.6 billion.

The failed launch of the rocket thwarted a number of tasks that NASA had set for itself, except for the launch of Space Shuttle to the ISS. The Falcon 9 rocket carried 1.8 tons of cargo.

The main task that was planned to be fulfilled by this launch was to replenish the supply of food for the ISS members. In addition, the rocket also carried the International Docking Adaptor (IDA) docking unit, developed by Boeing. This docking unit weighing 526 kg was to facilitate the docking of the Dragon ship to the ISS. For the same purposes, Dragon tried to deliver a spacesuit for spacewalk. Undoubtedly, the loss of such important components will adversely affect the schedule of scientific papers on board the ISS.

But that's not all! The Falcon 9 missile destroyed 8 Flock 1f satellites produced by order of Planet Labs. And each of them carried three CubeSat devices, which were supposed to conduct observation of the Earth in optical mode.

Falcon 9: Specifications

The design of the rocket is designed in such a way that avionics and on-board computers are installed at each stage, which are designed to monitor all flight parameters.

All the avionics used on board the rocket are manufactured by SpaceX. Also, in addition to its own navigation system, GPS equipment is used to improve the accuracy of the output to orbit.

In addition, each engine has its own controller, which constantly monitors all the parameters of the engine. And each controller is equipped with three processor blocks to increase the reliability of the system.

The Falcon 9 rocket is a two-stage rocket, and this version has undergone two modifications:

• Version 9 v1.0;
• Version 9 v1.1.

The difference of the second version from the first is that it is equipped with a more advanced engine. And they are also distinguished by the location of the engines in the lower stage.

And although in both versions the engines run on kerosene with an oxidizer from liquid oxygen, but the Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket brings to the space of 4.85 tons of payload, while the state-owned Falcon 9 missile v1.0 is only 3, 4 tons.

The length of version 1.1 is 68.4 meters with a starting mass of 506 tons.

To understand these parameters - the Russian Proton-M rocket is shorter by 10 meters (58.2 m), the starting mass is more - 705 tons. But the "Proton-M" puts into orbit 6.74 tons of payload.

According to NASA, the prime cost of launching Falcon 9 is $ 60 million, while Proton-M has $ 30 million more.

So what about the first stage?

The Falcon 9 missile is launched by NASA from two launch sites. They are located one in Florida, the second in California. Also works are underway to deploy two more launch sites.

SpaceX company constantly, starting from 2013, is working on creating technology for the reusable use of components Falcon 9 v1.1. The first attempt to preserve the Falcon 9 took place in January 2015. According to calculations, the stage should have landed in the vicinity of the floating platform. But bad weather at sea did not allow to pick up the stage of the rocket.

And to date, these efforts have not been crowned with success. None of the launches did not lead the company to keep the stage.

Expert opinion

Although the media reported that the last successful launch of Falcon 9 (in December 2015) allowed to keep the lower stage of the rocket, but experts doubt the further use of the first stage. Specialists believe that, given the temperature of the rocket's body warming both at launch and during descent, after its passage through the atmosphere, there is very little chance of re-use of this rocket element.

But that's not all. For reusable use, additional elements are needed - these are the landing struts and the necessary fuel supply. And this, in turn, reduces the payload to 30%.

A reliable rocket?

From 2010 to 2013, five launches were made, four of which were fully staffed.

But the launch of Falcon 9 in October 2012 was recognized by experts as "partially successful." Then the Falcon 9 missile first sent equipment to the ISS on a Dragon truck. But when the Orbcomm-G2 satellite was brought into the geostationary orbit , the satellite was brought to a lower orbit than planned.

The result of this "partially successful operation" is pitiable. Orbcomm-G2 stayed in orbit for a short time and on October 12 of the same year burned without a trace in the Earth's atmosphere.

In this respect, it is interesting how SpaceX explained the failure. According to experts, there was a breakage of a part of the skin from the fairing near the engine of the first stage.

Causes of the disaster

The authority and explosion of the Falcon 9 missile in June 2015 was not added. It stayed in flight for a short time - 2 minutes 19 seconds. As soon as the missile entered the hypersonic mode, an explosion occurred, and after 8 seconds the Falcon 9 fell apart. NASA in conjunction with the company SpaceX has begun to investigate the causes of the disaster.

The head of the company SpaceX put forward his version. According to his theory, the accident occurred as a result of excessive pressure in tanks with an oxidizer in the accelerating unit. This happened at a time when the first stage was not yet separated.

Other accidents

Of course, accidents in the space industry are not that rare. So, only in the USA this year there were three incidents (considering the catastrophe suffered by the Falcon 9 booster).

In October 2014, after the launch from the cosmodrome on Wallops Island, an explosion of a private Antares launch vehicle took place. It was expected that he would put a Cygnus truck into orbit to the ISS (both manufactured by Orbital Sciences).

Also in 2014 another ship SpaceShipTwo crashed. It was assumed that it will carry out suborbital tourist flights. And the developer Virgin Galactic is still trying to eliminate the causes of the crash.

The first launch of the Proton-M rocket was held on April 7, 2001. Then the rocket with the booster block "Breeze-M" successfully brought into orbit the satellite "Ekran-M". An improved version of the control system was installed on this rocket, which made it possible to improve the development of rocket fuel based on heptyl, which is known to be a toxic substance for both humans and the environment. Also, the new system allowed to increase the mass of payload, put into orbit.

Since that time 90 Proton-M starts have passed, but only 80 of them were fully staffed. The main cause of abnormal situations is caused by malfunctions in the overclocking unit.

Undoubtedly, such statistics are not a successful indicator for missiles with such a rich history. In any case, the explosion of the Falcon 9 missile will help to better study its malfunctions and take them into account at the next launch.

What's next?

At the moment, deliver cargo to the ISS in the state of:

• The Russian "Progress";
• Japanese HTV;
• Dragon;
• Cygnus.

NASA places great hopes on Dragon as an apparatus that is able to return cargo from the ISS to Earth. The contract with this company was extended until 2017, and another 15 starts are planned.

The last time the Falcon 9 launch vehicle with Dragon transporter successfully completed its mission on December 22, 2015.

NASA has no doubt that an accident with the Falcon 9 in no way interferes with the creation of manned spacecraft. As part of this program, SpaceX intends to launch the heavy-weight Falcon Heavy missile. This launch is able to compete with both the Russian "Proto" and the European Ariane 5.

The crash suffered by the American Falcon 9 rocket once again showed that no one is immune from the disaster in the exploration of space.