Jerome Strach

July 4th, 2017

With SpaceX recovering boosters on nearly every mission, hangars can get crowded. This photo was taken in the summer of 2016 before Launch Complex 39A was active for Falcon 9 launches. Four recovered boosters are present. Photo Credit: SpaceX

Last week, the Canaveral Port Authority authorized the leasing and development of anadditional 2.17 acres (8,780 square meters) to expand SpaceXs current property along State Road 401 andPayne Way. The company currently has property through along-term lease option in Port Canaveral. This new property, which lies adjacent to the first, will allow for the construction of a large hangar for booster processing and refurbishment strategically located near the launch facilities.

SpaceX already leases property at Port Canaveral. It plans to build additional hangar space on a lot just to the east of its current property. Photo Credit: Google

The lease term began on July 1, 2017, and runs through March 31, 2022. Its terms indicate an expenditure for SpaceX to be about $19,730 per month, with a 3percent annual increase. The neighboring property already runs the company about $35,180 per month.

It is unclear how much the new facility will cost to construct, but the U.K. architectural firm Atkins is being hired by SpaceX management, headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The new hangar will be a 67,222-square-foot (6,245-square-meter) behemoth and will provide additional protected work space for recoveredboosters.

Shortly following a launch from Cape Canaveral, usually around eight to nineminutes, SpaceX boosters land offshore in the Atlantic Ocean on theAutonomous Space Drone Ship Of Course I Still Love Youor back at Landing Zone 1 (formerly Space Launch Complex 13).

While SpaceX has only recently begun to safely land their first-stage boosters, the number of successful landings to date includeseight drone ship landings (including two on the West Coast drone ship Just Read The Instructions) and fiveLZ-1 landings. The expected result of this advanced aerospace maneuver of successful landings is that SpaceX now holds a rather large fleet of used boosters that each measure about157 feet(48 meters) in length and 12 feet(3.65 meters) in diameter.

Each brand new Falcon 9is reportedly valued at around $62 million, and now that landed first stages are being refurbished and re-flown, the most recent being the BulgariaSat-1 launch occurring on June 23, 2017, the future cost for flight-proven vehiclelaunches is expected tosignificantly drop for customers.

The current manifest SpaceX shares with the public currently lists clients using new hardware. The option of clients choosing refurbished equipment at a discount will become a consideration for customers moving forward.

The BulgariaSat-1 first stage core returns to port to be offloaded and sent to a hangar for potential refurbishment. Photo Credit: Vikash Mahadeo / SpaceFlight Insider

Most rocket companies flying orbital trajectories, up until this point, simply disposed of the expensive rocket hardware due to flight dynamics and challenging physics encountered during launch. The only exception wasthe Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) used on NASAs Space Shuttle. The SRBs would parachute into the Atlantic Ocean, thereby allowing for recovery and refurbishment.

However, SpaceX wants to eventually reuse 100percent of itsrocket components, including the payload fairing which can cost upward of $6 million. More challenging will be the recovery of the secondstage because it travels all the way to orbit, requiring a heat shield for a successful recovery.

This new hangar structure to be built will provide additional sheltered work space for SpaceX to tackle the taskof analyzing the Merlin-1D engine cluster and other flight hardware. The returning of the boosters through the atmosphere can punish the booster as it re-enters the dense air at high speed.

As an example, just recently, SpaceX started constructing grid fins steerable flaps located at the top of the booster out of titanium because the aluminum components on previous designs were not holding up to the intense heat. Onboard cameras would often show the oldergrid fin design glowing bright orange, and even catching fire during descent just beforelanding.Thenew titanium grid fins will allow for long-term use of the same hardware, allowing for repeated flights with little or no maintenance.

The current hangar structures available to SpaceX in Florida include alarge horizontal integration facility (HIF) just outside the perimeter atLaunch Complex39A at the Kennedy Space Center, an HIF at Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and a small hangar at Landing Zone 1. Without additional space, there is aneed to shuffle hardware around frequently utilizing the McGregor, Texas, test facility as well as the SpaceX Headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Another HIF is located at Vandenberg Air Force Bases SLC-4E launch site in California.

This shuffling of hardware has become a frequent occurrence with SpaceX increasing its launch cadence. In 2016, SpaceX launched a total of eight Falcon 9 rockets (with the ninth one exploding on a launch pad during a test on Sept. 1, 2016). This year, so far, there have been nine launches, with six months still left in 2017.

The additional challenge of fleet management will now be exacerbated by the Falcon Heavy configuration which requires three separate booster cores. It is hoped that SpaceX will launch itsFalcon Heavy rocket before the end of 2017.

Tagged: Falcon 9 Port Canaveral SpaceX The Range

Jerome Strach has worked within the Silicon Valley community for 20 years including software entertainment and film. Along with experience in software engineering, quality assurance, and middle management, he has long been a fan of aerospace and entities within that industry. A voracious reader, a model builder, and student of photography and flight training, most of his spare time can be found focused on launch events and technology advancements including custom mobile app development. Best memory as a child is building and flying Estes rockets with my father. @Romn8tr

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SpaceX acquires 2 more acres at Port Canaveral - SpaceFlight Insider