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Title: Falcon 9 first stage test Post by: Frank on November 25, 2008, 11:42:39 AM Spacex just tested (http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20081123) the first stage for their Falcon 9 rocket.
Quote At full power, the rocket generated 855,000 pounds of force at sea level. In vacuum, the thrust increases to approximately one million pounds or four times the maximum thrust of a 747 aircraft. The test consumed over half a million pounds of propellant. All nine engines fired for 160 seconds, then two engines were shut down to limit the acceleration and the remaining seven engines continued firing for 18 more seconds, as would occur in a typical climb to orbit. They claim that they will be able to put 12 tonnes into LEO. It would take several of these to get the starter components for the SE up there. Title: Re: Falcon 9 first stage test Post by: A_M_Swallow on November 25, 2008, 02:47:21 PM Minimum ribbon size = 150 tonnes
http://www.spaceward.org/elevator-faq?advanced#smallestPossible (http://www.spaceward.org/elevator-faq?advanced#smallestPossible) Falcon 9 cost is $36.75M for about 12 tonnes to equatorial LEO. http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php (http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php) Required launches = 150 / 12 = 12.5 Rounding up and adding a spare gives 14 launches. Launch cost = $36.75 million * 14 = $515 million |