First Orbital Rocket Capable of Reuse
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket. Reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access.
The World's Most Powerful Rocket
Falcon Heavy
Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb) Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy. Falcon Heavy is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft.
Sending Humans And Cargo Into Space
Dragon
The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from
Earth orbit, and beyond. It is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning
significant amounts of cargo to Earth, and is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space
station.
The Dragon capsule, also known as the pressurized section, allows for the transport of people as well
as
environmentally sensitive cargo. Dragon is equipped with Draco thrusters that allow Dragon to maneuver
while on orbit and 8 SuperDracos that power the spacecraft’s launch escape system.
Dragon’s trunk not only carries unpressurized cargo but also supports the spacecraft during ascent.
One
half of the trunk is covered in solar panels that provide power to Dragon during flight and while
on-station. The trunk remains attached to Dragon until shortly before reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
TO ORBIT, MOON, MARS AND BEYOND
StarShip
SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket (collectively referred to as Starship) represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship will be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit.
Look Here!
ROCKET POWER!
Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Merlin engines use a rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle. The Merlin engine was originally designed for recovery and reuse.
Merlin Vacuum features a larger exhaust section and a significantly larger expansion nozzle to maximize the engine’s efficiency in the vacuum of space. Its combustion chamber is regeneratively cooled, while the expansion nozzle is radiatively cooled. At full power, the Merlin Vacuum engine operates with the greatest efficiency ever for an American-made hydrocarbon rocket engine.
MARS HERE WE COME!
In 2020, SpaceX returned America’s ability to fly NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station on American vehicles for the first time since 2011. In addition to flying astronauts to space for NASA, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft can also carry private passengers to Earth orbit, the ISS or beyond.
Landing On Mars
Starship will enter Mars’ atmosphere at 7.5 kilometers per second and decelerate aerodynamically. The vehicle’s heat shield is designed to withstand multiple entries, but given that the vehicle is coming into Mars' atmosphere so hot, we still expect to see some ablation of the heat shield (similar to wear and tear on a brake pad). The engineering video below simulates the physics of Mars entry for Starship.