SpaceX Aims To Debut New Version of Falcon 9 This Summer

摘要

SpaceX plans to inaugurate its new, more-powerful Falcon 9 rocket this summer, using the same Merlin 1D engine with a modified fuel mix and other changes to extend the company's planned reuse of the first stage to cover all SpaceX launches, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said. In March 16 and 17 appearances at the Satellite 2015 conference here, Shotwell said the new-version Falcon 9, which has yet to be named, will be about 30 percent more powerful than the rocket's current version. Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX's plans to reuse its Falcon 9 rocket's first stage have been carried out so far by attempted landings in the ocean and on an unmanned ocean barge following launches into low Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket needs more power to perform the same maneuver after a launch carrying a telecommunications satellite to geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers over the equator, thus the need for the upgraded engine.