Thursday, November 30, 2017

NASA Plans First Re-Use Of SpaceX Booster In December

NASA said on Wednesday that it plans to use a "flight-proven" booster rocket from Hawthorne-based SpaceX on its next Commercial Resupply Mission (CRS-13), the first time the agency will use a returned SpaceX booster in a mission. SpaceX already has been sending payloads into space with its previously flown Falcon 9 booster rockets for other customers. However, the acceptance of the use of a re-used Falcon 9 first stage booster marks a major milestone in SpaceX's goal of wider, re-use of its booster rockets in operations. NASA is notoriously conservative in its qualifications for spaceflights. The CRS-13 mission will use a flight booster that was previously used in the CRS-11 mission in June. The NASA CRS-13 mission is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than December 8th, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base. NASA said that launch will be delivering supplies and equipment to the International Space Station, plus a NASA instrument called the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor, or TSIS-1, and a fiber optic payload.