Skip to main content

SpaceX nails another launch, but fails to catch the fairing

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Update 5/23/2018: SpaceX logged yet another successful mission on Tuesday, blasting seven satellites into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket around 12:47 PM PST. However, while the company did achieve its primary objective (to safely deliver its payload into space), failed to achieve its secondary objective: recovering a reusable section of the rocket known as the fairing.

While SpaceX has a pretty good track record for recovering first-stage rocket boosters, it has yet to perfect the fairing recovery process. Catching a fairing (the “nose cone” that protects the payload during launch) is completely different than landing a rocket. Unlike SpaceX’s fancy reusable boosters, fairings aren’t capable of controlled descent — so SpaceX has to chase them down and try to catch them as they erratically plummet out of the sky.

Recommended Videos

To do this, SpaceX currently uses a boat named Mr. Steven, which is equipped with a giant net, and a GPS system that tracks the fairing as it falls. SpaceX offered viewers a brief glimpse of the craft yesterday before liftoff, but unfortunately did not stream the catch attempt it made shortly thereafter. Toward the end of the webcast, it was announced that Mr. Steven missed the catch — but rest assured that this won’t be the last time SpaceX gives it a try.

Iridium-6/GRACE-FO Mission

5/22/2018: Less than two weeks have passed since SpaceX’s last rocket launch, but today the company will attempt to break free from the shackles of gravity and reach orbit once again. Barring any delays, SpaceX is set to launch yet another Falcon 9 rocket today at 12:47 PM PST from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

This time, the rocket will carry payloads for two different customers: A set of five communications satellites from Iridium, and two gravity-measuring satellites built in a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences.

Today’s launch will differ from SpaceX’s previous launches in three key ways. First and foremost, the company isn’t using its new Block 5 Falcon 9 variant. Instead, the payload will be delivered into orbit on an older Block 4 version, which was previously used (and successfully recovered) four months ago during the Zuma mission.

Second, SpaceX will not make any attempt to recover the rocket’s first stage this time around. This deliberate move is part of the company’s ongoing effort to phase out its Block 4 rockets and transition to using the newer, more advanced Block 5 fleet for all future launches. Block 5 rockets (one of which SpaceX used on its last mission) boast a range of upgrades that not only make them more efficient, but also make the Falcon 9’s first stages easier to reuse after recovery.

Don’t worry though — despite the fact that today’s mission won’t include a spectacular rocket landing, the company will attempt to recover a different part of the rocket: half of the payload fairing, otherwise known as the nose cone shell that protects all the expensive stuff SpaceX is trying to put into Space

This is a very tricky endeavor. An array of thrusters and parachutes will help guide the partial fairing down towards Mr. Steven, a landing ship that will attempt to cradle the nose cone and prevent it from tumbling into the ocean. If this recovery proves successful, it will mark a first for the SpaceX team. Previous attempts have just barely failed.

Weather is favorable today, so a launch looks likely. As usual, the SpaceX webcast will kick off 15 minutes before scheduled takeoff.

Drew Prindle
Former Senior Editor, Features
Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…
Watch this Atlas rocket zip to the launchpad for Amazon’s Kuiper launch
ULA's Atlas V rocket on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral for the second Project Kuiper satellite deployment.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has started the countdown clock for the deployment of Amazon’s second batch of Project Kuiper internet satellites.

The rocket operator released a time-lapse video on Sunday showing the Atlas V rocket moving from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launchpad at Cape Canaveral in Florida. ULA chief Tory Bruno noted that while the rocket appears to hurtle to its destination, the vehicle carrying it is actually moving at a mere 3 mph.

Read more
These 6 rocket explosions show how SpaceX likes to roll
A Starship prototype explodes during testing.

The upper-stage of SpaceX’s next-generation Starship rocket exploded in a massive fireball at its Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, on Wednesday night. No one was hurt in the incident.

The vehicle was being prepared for the 10th flight test of the most powerful rocket in the world, which also includes the first-stage Super Heavy booster.

Read more
SpaceX suggests potential cause of huge Starship explosion
SpaceX's Starship spacecraft explodes at Starbase.

SpaceX has offered an update on the massive explosion which destroyed the Starship spacecraft on a test stand on Wednesday.

The dramatic explosion took place at SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, during preparations for the Starship rocket’s 10th test flight, which was expected to take place in the coming weeks. No one was reported killed or injured in the incident.

Read more