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Composite image showing the Falcon 9 booster taking off and landing a few minutes later near the launch pad.
SpaceX
The upcoming launch of SpaceX will mark a milestone, as the Pentagon allows Elon Musk to send a national security satellite into orbit with a reused rocket for the first time.
SpaceX is set to launch the Space Force’s GPS III satellite SV05 Thursday from Florida, using a Falcon 9 rocket that launched the GPS III SV04 satellite last November. The company’s Falcon 9 rockets can be partially reused, with SpaceX regularly directing the boosters – the largest and most expensive part of the rocket – and then launching them again.
“In preparation for this first event, we have worked closely with SpaceX to understand the renovations and are confident that this missile is ready for its next flight,” Dr. Walter Lauderdale, deputy mission director for the US Space Force Systems Center, told reporters during a briefing Monday.
The US Department of Defense has awarded SpaceX five of six GPS III satellite launch contracts to date, with the only GPS III SV02 mission launched by rival United Launch Alliance – the joint venture to build missiles between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The five launch contracts total $469.8 million and did not originally include SpaceX’s option to reuse Falcon 9 rockets.
As the name implies, the GPS III spacecraft are replacements for the 31 satellites currently in orbit.
The Space and Missile Systems Center last year modified contracts for SpaceX’s launch of its next GPS III satellite to allow for reuse, a move the military estimated would save about $64 million.
Notably, SpaceX asked SpaceX to use the same booster to launch the SV05 that launched the SV04 satellite. But Dr. Lauderdale said the Space and Missile Systems Center has “no other restrictions” on how the company can use the Falcon 9 booster in the future, and highlighted that Space Force is also open to flying national security payloads on boosters from non-military missions.
We continue to work with [SpaceX] Looking forward to the SV06 mission next year… we’ll work with them to see what boosters are available,” said Dr. Lauderdale. “We are definitely open to using other reinforcements and not just the ones that have been moved [for Space Force]. “
A Falcon 9 rocket that landed from the SpaceX Demo-2 mission has returned to Port Canaveral, Florida.
SpaceX
The move marks another step forward in the US military embracing SpaceX’s missile reuse practice, where the government previously required the company to use new missiles and dispose of the boosters in the ocean – the traditional practice in the launch industry.
Dr. Lauderdale said the Space and Missile Systems Center has been working to allow reusable rocket launches over the past five years, and has set new requirements. He pointed out that the center reviewed more than 440 changes to the booster and completed more than 380 steps achieved before launch.
“Overall, our disciplined approach is part of a relentless dedication to achieving once-in-a-time mission success,” said Dr. Lauderdale.
Thursday’s launch will be the third of the Space Force’s National Security Space Launch Program missions to land the rocket as well.
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