SpaceX flies the same Falcon 9 booster 25 times, and what it means for Blue Origin
Between the imminent debut of Blue Origin’s New Glenn and the seventh demo launch of SpaceX’s Starship, the team at SpaceX quietly hit a new record in first-stage booster reuse Jan. 10, launching a Falcon 9 booster on its 25th mission.
Booster B1067 carried a payload of 21 Starlink satellites (13 for direct-to-cell, eight for broadband) from Cape Canaveral. Compared to previous reflight milestones (in increments of five), this was the first time SpaceX hit a new reuse threshold in less than a year.
Additionally, the time it took to go from 20 to 25 flights on the same booster was ~10% of the time it took SpaceX to go from introducing the Falcon 9 to (June 2010) to completing its first reflight in March 2017.
Reaching 25 flights is notable because that is the same number of missions Blue Origin has designed each New Glenn booster to complete before expiring. A key argument of Blue’s is that New Glenn was designed for reuse from the beginning, suggesting the company should hit reflight milestones faster than SpaceX.
It took SpaceX 14.6 years to reach 25 flights with the Falcon 9, which started as an expendable vehicle and was upgraded over time for reuse. Will Blue Origin hit that target faster? Only time will tell, but there are several reasons why the answer should be yes:
1. The normalization of reuse. In many ways, Blue Origin faces fewer barriers to reuse than SpaceX did. The regulatory environment understands reuse, the market is willing to buy launches on pre-flown boosters, and a workforce exists where reuse isn’t a foreign concept. Blue Origin’s workforce is also sprinkled with former SpaceXers who bring experience with reuse that they can apply to New Glenn.
2. New Shepard Heritage. Despite being a suborbital vehicle, New Shepard has given Blue Origin experience with the launch, landing and reflight of a propulsive, crew-capable vehicle for the past 10 years. Many of those technologies and competencies transfer to New Glenn.
3. Engine flight data. Four BE-4 engines (used to power New Glenn’s first stage) have already flown to space via ULA’s first two Vulcan missions, which use the engines on the rocket’s first stage. Most launch companies have to wait until after their vehicle flies to get as much engine data as Blue Origin has, but by selling engines to a third party, Blue got a sneak peek at how the engines performed before New Glenn lifts off.
4. Cleaner fuel. New Glenn uses methalox (methane and liquid oxygen) as fuel, which burns cleaner than rocket-grade kerosene used in the Falcon 9. The cleaner burn means less soot buildup, which should reduce refurbishment and aid in faster turnaround times between launches.
5. Design for reuse. Blue Origin’s approach to designing New Glenn enables the company to attempt a booster landing on its very first mission. Frankly, it would be astounding if it took Blue Origin the same 6.8 years as SpaceX to refly a booster, given all the prep work already done.
It has taken New Glenn nine years to get from announcement to the launch pad – four longer than planned – but that will be easier to tolerate if it bears fruit in the form of rapid reuse. We might finally see the Ferociter, not just the Gradatim, that founder Jeff Bezos has long espoused.