NerfSchlerfen t1_jbs1nto wrote on March 11, 2023 at 6:56 AM

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

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

mfb- t1_jbs50o1 wrote on March 11, 2023 at 7:40 AM

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.

Xeglor-The-Destroyer t1_jbschh0 wrote on March 11, 2023 at 9:23 AM

> 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.

NerfSchlerfen t1_jbs5omx wrote on March 11, 2023 at 7:49 AM

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

danielravennest t1_jbtjdwx wrote on March 11, 2023 at 4:30 PM

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.