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SpaceX to fly mini-BFS prototype as Falcon 9 upper stage



 
 
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Old November 8th 18, 12:25 PM posted to sci.space.policy
Jeff Findley[_6_]
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Default SpaceX to fly mini-BFS prototype as Falcon 9 upper stage

Elon Musk tweeted yesterday that SpaceX plans to build and fly a mini-
BFS prototype as a Falcon 9 upper stage. This is to test the
lightweight thermal protection system as well as the aerodynamics of
their "belly flop" reentry and flight down to subsonic speeds.

The flight tests will not include vertical landing because Musk says
they already know how to do that (duh). I am speculating it may,
however, test the transition from the "belly flop" attitude to vertical
as that would seem to be a critical part of the BFS flight profile to
prove out.

I'm also speculating recovery might be by parachute. You know, because
you might want to fly the thing more than once. Plus, if they fly a
mini-BFS prototype more than once, they'll be in the record books for
flying the first fully reusable TSTO. You know, because you've actually
got to reuse it to call it reusable.

Elon Musk also tweeted that the first flight of this prototype is
expected by June. But, of course, that's Elon Musk time, so I'd expect
a delay of at least a few months.

Expect articles on space news sites in the coming days since even a
handful of Elon Musk tweets are often turned into articles.

I'm sure SpaceX is doing this mostly for testing, but one could imagine
the utility of a reusable upper stage which integrates the payload
fairing into the design. This is especially true on the Falcon Heavy
since for some missions it's got the extra payload margin to handle the
increased mass of the upper stage.

My cite is the Elon Musk Twitter account. It's easy enough to find and
scroll down to yesterday's tweets.

Jeff
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