Falcon Launch Vehicle Status
Capabilities and Manifest
Space Exploration Technologies
1310 Grand Avenue
El Segundo, CA 90245
Phone (310) 414-6555
Fax (310) 414-6552
spacex.com
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Falcon in Washington DC for its unveiling
SpaceX.com
Vehicle Summary
Payload capability: 1500 lbs to LEO (28.5 deg, 100 nm, circular)
Launch from Vandenberg, Cape and Kwajalein
Multiple manifest, multiple orbit
Benign payload environment
$5.9M per launch plus range costs
Vehicle flight ready by Fall 2004
Diameter 5.5’ tapering to 5’
Length 68’
1st Stage Parachute/Water
Recovery
1st Stage Lox/RP1
2nd Stage Lox/RP1
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Falcon First Stage
Re-usable 1st Stage
Lox – RP1 Propellant
Aluminum 2219-T6 Tanks
“Flight Pressure Stabilized” Design
Common bulkhead
94% Mass Ratio
Parachute to Water Landing
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Falcon First Stage Engine
SpaceX Merlin Engine
Thrust: 72k SL, 85k Vacuum
Isp: 261 SL, 310 Vacuum
Ablatively Cooled
Pintle Injector Geometry
Pump-fed Gas Generator Cycle
Turbine Exhaust Roll Control
Hydraulic TVC
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Falcon Second Stage
Expendable 2nd Stage
Lox – RP1 Propellant
Aluminum Lithium Tanks
Common Bulkhead
91 % Mass Ratio
Kestrel Engine:
7.5Klbf Vacuum Thrust
Pressure Fed with GHe
Isp: 325 Vacuum
Hot Helium Attitude Control
Ablative/Radiative Cooling
Pintle Injector Geometry
EMA for TVC
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Avionics
Flight-proven, redundant
components
Dual Inertial
Measurement Units Thrust
Analog Data
Dual Flight
GPS Vector
Redundant
Computers
Red. Flight Flight
IMU Trans- Trans- Engine
Computer Encoder Terminat
(Gyro) mitter ponder Computer
ion
GPS 12 Channel
Ethernet
S-Band Telemetry Switch
and Video Downlink
C-Band Transponder
for Tracking Hub
Launch Pad
Computer
1-3 Miles
Ground
Control
Telemetry
Computer
Computer
Ethernet Bus Propellant
Testport Loading I/F
QNX Real-time OS
Display
Hub
Computer
Display
Computer
Display
Computer
SpaceX.com
Falcon Performance
Launch from Cape Canaveral due Eas t
700
Direct Ins ertion 1500
650 Two Impuls e Ins ertion
1400
600
1300
550 1200
500 1100
) )
g b(l
k(
450 1000d
d a
a ol
ol Launch from Vandenberg into S un-S ynchronous Orbit
y
400 900 ya
a P
600
P
Direct Ins ertion
800
350 Two Impuls e Ins ertion 1200
700
300 500
600
250 1000
Rev. K S B150 8/4/03 500
200 400
200 300 400 500 600 700 800 ) )
g b
Circular Orbit Altitude (km) k( 800 (l
d d
a a
ol ol
y y
a 300 a
P P
600
200
400
Rev. K S B150 8/5/03
100
200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Circular Orbit Altitude (km)
SpaceX.com
Falcon Launch Sites
SLC 3W at the Western range
(VAFB) for high inclination
launches
LC 46 at the Eastern Range
(ER) for low inclination
launches
Reagan Test Site for very low
inclination launches
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Falcon Flight Sequence
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Falcon Payload Volume
SpaceX.com
Mechanical Interface / Separation
Separation System
38” Lightband from Planetary Systems
is the baseline
Space Flight proven
Low shock
Non explosive initiation and low strain
energy design
Low tipoff rates < 1.0 deg. per second
Separation Orientation
Almost any attitude can be
accommodated as long as time is not
an issue
~15 minutes to obtain any attitude
Second Stage Attitude and Rate
Accuracies
Roll +/- 2 degrees
Pitch/Yaw +/- 0.5 degrees
Body rates +/- 0.1 deg/sec/axis
SpaceX.com
Environments Summary
Random Vibration: 5.3 grms
Acoustic: 131 OASPL
Shock: ~750 g’s
Max Loads: 2 g’s lateral (ground ops) ; ~7 g’s axial
(burn out)
Visibly clean fairing, Class 100K processing
30-60% humidity; 60-80 deg. F processing
SpaceX.com
Predicted Injection Accuracies
Accuracies that we will Accuracies that we are predicting:
sign up to:
4
perigee +/- 10 km 3
apogee +/- 20 km Deviation in apogee from nominal (km)
2
-1
-2
-3
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
De via tion in pe rige e from nom ina l (km )
SpaceX.com
Standard Payload Services
Air conditioning in the shroud
Payload environment is visibly clean with dry filtered air purge
Provide access door in the fairing (for contingency only after mating
to the vehicle)
SpaceX provides facility for limited checkout—S/C brings its own test
equipment
Payload must find processing facility to load propellants and for
long term processing
SpaceX will provide GSE to mate s/c to payload adapter
S/C is un-powered during launch
Signal to turn on S/C provided by LV command or from
separation signal
Modest S/C spinup 6 rpm
SpaceX.com
Falcon Launch Operations
SpaceX.com
Projected Manifest
2004
Sept/Oct.: TacSat-1 VAFB; firm
2005
April: DoD Kwaj
July: DARPA FALCON TBD
Sept: Multiple Manifest CCAFS
October: International Kwaj; firm
December: Maiden Falcon V Comm./Bigelow; firm
2006
May : Gov’t customer Kwaj or CCAFS
June: Gov’t customer Kwaj or CCAFS
August: Gov’t customer Kwaj or CCAFS
SpaceX.com
The TacSat-1 Program
The maiden Falcon I flight will
carry TacSat-1 to an altitude
of 510 km and an inclination of
64 degrees
Will launch from VAFB SLC
3W—see trajectory at right
TacSat-1 is an experiment
funded by OSD’s Office of
Force Transformation
We are undergoing a mission
assurance review
SpaceX.com
Progress to Date
Vast majority of the launch system has been designed, analyzed, integrated and tested at SpaceX,
including:
First and second stage structures
First and second stage engines
Fairing
Stage separation and fairing separation systems
Avionics system
Guidance and control algorithms
Mobile launcher/erector
Mobile launch command trailer
In addition, SpaceX has:
Built a world-class engine and structural test facility
Received environmental approval in one of the most difficult locations in the world
(Vandenberg)
On track for range safety approval within 2 years of start
Built a proto-Falcon and transported it cross-country to DC for the centennial of flight
Established a customer payload integration process, which is underway with the DOD/NRL
First launch contracted with funding from the Secretary of Defense
Second launch contracted (incl. deposit) with a non-US space agency
First customer contracted (incl. deposit) for the Falcon V
SpaceX.com
OK, so when are we going to launch?
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