Scale size comparison of SpaceX first-stage launch vehicles: (from left) Falcon 9 v1.0 (2010), Falcon 9 v1.1 (2013), and the 10-meter diameter, 9-Raptor, first-stage booster core for the future Mars Colonial Transporter.
“And the wild card is Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Already in the game of sending cargo via its Dragon spacecraft to the ISS, SpaceX is developing a reputation for dependability when it comes to getting satellites into orbit at relatively low cost. SpaceX hopes to field its Falcon 9 Heavy with a lift capacity of 53,000 kg to LEO sometime in 2015, and many proposed missions are banking on the the Falcon 9 Heavy as a future service provider for solar system exploration.”
It’s nice that they mention the Falcon Heavy that is classified as a super heavy lift launch system, but they forget to mention that SpaceX is also developing ultra-heavy lift capability that will use the Raptor engine (1.6 million lbs. of thrust at liftoff) to launch the Mars Colonial Transporter. It’ll be a 10 meter diameter booster utilizing nine of those Raptors and might be called the Falcon X with a lift capability of 100 to 150 tons. Rumors put the Falcon XX at greater than 200 tons of capacity. SpaceX will leave the government rocket organizations in the dust.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor_%28rocket_engine%29
Next SpaceX Falcon 9 launch is 16DEC2014.
“SpaceX has stated that they will attempt to return the first stage of the Falcon 9 through the atmosphere and land it on an approximately 90 by 50 meters (300 ft × 160 ft) floating platform, called the autonomous spaceport drone ship, that is, as of October 2014, being built for SpaceX in Louisiana.[62] This will be the first flight which will attempt a solid surface landing, “with an improved probability of success” relative to previous water-based landing tests.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Falcon_9_launches
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3231054/posts
