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reddit455 t1_jbr5r1y wrote

Reply to comment by Uhgfda in Space Force allocates three historic Cape Canaveral launch pads to four companies by Azurebluenomad

SX can land on a barge.. they test engines on those pads.

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Uhgfda t1_jbr5w1v wrote

No, those are their terrestrial landing pads.

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danteheehaw t1_jbrw3tl wrote

But some ancient astronaut theorist believe that they are in fact, extraterrestrial landing pads. How could a primitive civilization, such as Florida, have access to this kind of technology?

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descendingangel87 t1_jbsx4o6 wrote

Just look at the landscape of Merritt Island. You can see how someone shaped the land to make runways for space craft!

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TheEarthquakeGuy t1_jbr8oz8 wrote

Not only do they land on the pads, the launch companies in question currently are developing rockets that launch from mobile launchers - Daytona for Phantom and Dauntless for Vaya Space.

So in theory, these launchers should be able to use the concrete pads without interruption and SpaceX move any impending RTLS flights to ships.

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mfb- t1_jbru7pl wrote

SpaceX lands on the ground once every 1-2 months and there are two landing zones (only some FH flights need both) so sharing the pads might work. If not, building another concrete pad isn't a big deal.

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NerfSchlerfen t1_jbs1nto wrote

SpaceX is planning to retire the Falcon rockets once Starship is operational (and the F9/H backlog is exhausted, I guess)

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mfb- t1_jbs50o1 wrote

The Falcon family won't retire before 2030 the earliest because it's flying Dragon missions to the ISS, but Falcon boosters returning to Florida might become rare once Starship can fly routinely.

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Xeglor-The-Destroyer t1_jbschh0 wrote

> The Falcon family won't retire before 2030 the earliest because it's flying Dragon missions to the ISS

Probably, yeah, although Dragon missions don't RTLS so SpaceX can give up the landing pads while still fulfilling their ISS contracts.

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NerfSchlerfen t1_jbs5omx wrote

If all they're being used for in 8 years time is crewed missions they might just fly the last 10 missions expendable. IIRC though there are also some Artemis missions booked for Falcon Heavy?

My personal guess is those contracts won't live more than a few years once it becomes clear what a gamechanger Starship is but that's just speculation :P

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danielravennest t1_jbtjdwx wrote

Falcon Heavy is planned to be the launcher for parts of the Lunar Gateway station in lunar orbit. Starship, which has its own launch pads, is going to be the excessively oversized lunar lander, plus tanker flights to refill it in low Earth orbit.

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cjameshuff t1_jbtuy8w wrote

> and SpaceX move any impending RTLS flights to ships.

RTLS missions only exist in the first place because it's cheaper and faster, and avoids contention for the ASDS ships, which are unavailable for significant periods of time as they transport cores back and move out to support the next landing. Moving an RTLS landing to an ASDS has a substantial cost and schedule impact, and isn't something SpaceX is going to want to do regularly.

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TheEarthquakeGuy t1_jbug6z9 wrote

Absolutely, but the cadence of these launchers is going to be limited and should be around the time that SpaceX is switching to Starship so it should be ok

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