SpaceX successfully catches both fairing for the first time (opens in new tab)

Perhaps even more importantly, they are a big bottleneck on their flight rate. They require a massive autoclave (for curing the composites), and it wouldn't be practical to scale up their production significantly.

Even if it didn't save them a penny, my guess is it would still be a priority.

FWIW, this isn't the first time they've caught the fairings, it is the first time they've caught both of them.

They've actually reflown 4 fairings now however a few of them they fished out of the ocean and had to do further inspections and refurbishing due to salt water corrosion.

Go to https://www.spacexstats.xyz/#reuse-fairings for some more info.

My guess would be to avoid the salt water. NASA had to make significant changes to the Solid Rocket Boosters because they landed in the water[1].

[1]: https://llis.nasa.gov/lesson/836

By catching the farings, SpaceX pockets $6m per launch. If they catch them, they can reuse them 5+ times. If they get dumped in the ocean, they might be able to use them a second time, but the salt water degrades them so more than a couple launches is unlikely. So each time a faring hits the water, it costs SpaceX $500,000 – $1 million dollars or more. At 22 launches per year, that adds up in a hurry.

First: saltwater damage. Ever tried to run a car or a laptop or an airplane after it was dunked in saltwater? Hardening for saltwater immersion isn’t always practical and will always add some weight.

Second: They already do float. They recover them quickly (& sometimes reuse them) if they miss the catch. But the fairing halves are 800km down range. You need to have a boat nearby anyway, so might as well try to catch it before it lands in saltwater and screws it up.

(Copy-pasting my own reply to a similar question below)

Salt water is the worst. It takes a lot of effort to clean it all off and it causes corrosion all the while. Even the ones that do hit water, they get them out as fast as they safely can.

As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), SpaceX have only reused previously-wet fairings on their own Starlink launches. They don't risk potentially damaged parts on external customers.

I think the salt water even for brief periods even surrounded and raised up a few feet by bouys is a corrosive disaster. Maybe reusable a few times but not the long term solution if they want to reuse them 10's / 100's of times.

They use steerable parafoils.

I am just amazed that NASA turned around a shuttle in 54 days, I don't even recall it. Apparently these were the first two missions flown[0]. However I also read almost suffered Columbia's fate on one of its flight due to a large loss of tiles

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Atlantis#Flights...

Depending on the launch trajectory, these fairings come down between 40 km and 1400km offshore. So you either need a helicopter with incredible range and dwell time, or a boat with a helicopter pad AND a place to put the fairing if you catch it.

Say you catch the fairing. Great, now you have a giant composite/plastic sail, the size of school bus, bouncing around in your rotor downdraft. Not exactly the safest thing, and you're over water so you can't just put down anywhere.

So, it's complicated, and SpaceX decided to go with a boat rather than a helicopter-and-a-boat.

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-mr-steven-renamed-falcon-he...

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/8/21213917/rocket-lab-rocket...

Rocketlab first stage catch demo; they've got a heavy stage to catch (with heavy engines at the bottom to act as a counterweight) and it's not nearly as big as the Falcon 9 booster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3CWGDhkmbs&feature=emb_titl...

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I'm not sure why you were downvoted, I hate sites where the only option to "do you want to be tracked?" is "yes" too.

While I fully agree with this sentiment generally, I wonder what people think of NPR and WaPo in comparison (both give much less choice than Engadget).

I seem to see this complaint on every Verizon-property article posted, but NPR and WaPo get excused?

I wonder is it just a UX difference?

Probably that decision was a c-level one, overruling at least the objection of the developers.

That's what they already do. It's a steerable parafoil. How would they be expected to get the ship lined up underneath the parafoil in time to catch it otherwise?

I think those guys fly in much better weather conditions than the returning fairings.

If those guys miss by 50 meters, no biggie, they just walk and pick the rocket up.

If SpaceX misses by 5 meters, the fairings could end up in the salt water.

Landing on a moving ship is much harder.

Salt water is the worst. It takes a lot of effort to clean it all off and it causes corrosion all the while. Even the ones that do hit water, they get them out as fast as they safely can.

As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), SpaceX have only reused previously-wet farings on their own Starlink launches. They don't risk potentially damaged parts on external customers.

> Would immersion in salt water for a few hours damage a fairing?

Yes.

They haven't been very public about how much refurbishment is required for fairings that they fish out of the ocean, but they've managed to use them on Starlink launches.

Forget immersion- just contacting salt water is enough to wreck your day. It's highly corrosive and protecting from that corrosion would require engineering coatings that are light, cheap, and also able to handle the temperature and pressure and wind stresses of a literal rocket launch. It's a lot.

Yes. The couple they reused after fishing them out required extensive rebuilds.

There are a lot of electronics on these things and weight is ultimate factor.

Or grab them with a hook dangling from a C-130 like the film from old-timey spy satellites.