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The SpaceX Falcon 9 is big. Really big. Mindboggling big.
(But it’s peanuts compared to the SpaceX ITS.)
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This is a high-level, overly simplified explanation of the “hoverslam” maneuver the SpaceX Falcon 9 performs during landing.
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This is a high-level overview of the components of the SpaceX Dragon 1.
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This is a high-level overview of the components of the SpaceX Dragon 2 in its crew configuration. (SpaceX’s Red Dragon capsule is an unmanned, stripped-down variant of the Dragon 2.)
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This is a high-level view of the engines and thrusters in the SpaceX Dragon 2.
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This is a brief overview of the components of the SpaceX Falcon 9 in its fairing configuration (as opposed to the Dragon 1 or Dragon 2 configurations.)
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This is the approximate trajectory of the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster during a “return to launch site” landing (i.e. landing on land).
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My rendition of the Red Dragon capsule as it deploys its trunk in preparation for atmospheric entry, just minutes away.
Launching on a Falcon Heavy from LC-39A at Cape Canaveral no earlier than 2020, the Red Dragon missions will demonstrate powered landings on the Red Planet.
This article is outdated; things have changed since it was written and it is no longer accurate. It is being kept online for reference purposes only.
It’s mid-April 2018, and SpaceX is getting ready to launch a Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket since Energia. This time, though, its payload isn’t another communications or reconnaissance satellite; instead, SpaceX is preparing to launch their first unmanned mission to Mars: the Red Dragon.
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This is the approximate trajectory of the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster during a downrange propulsive landing (i.e. ocean landing) on the ASDS.
Note that this profile includes a boostback burn; this profile was used during the launch of CRS-8, among others. It’s not used with heavy payloads, such as some of the larger GTO missions; instead, the booster does not perform a boostback burn and ends up much farther downrange, requiring the ASDS to position itself much farther from shore. The approximate trajectory of a Falcon 9 landing without a boostback burn can be seen here.
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