Speaking at Code Conference 2016, a tech industry meeting held this week near Los Angeles, SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk the company plans to re-fly the used rocket again in two or three months.
Something like that, Musk said. It will be an important milestone. So far, the stages are looking quite good, even though they are coming through a really difficult re-entry situation, but theyre looking in good shape. We now have four of them, so we want to start re-flying them towards the end of the summer.
. . .
In the meantime, SpaceX engineers in Texas will put the rocket stage recovered after the May 6 launch of JCSAT 14, which went through the Falcon 9s most stressing descent yet, through a stringent series of tests to confirm other vehicles can reliably fly again.
Called delta qualification tests, the checks on the ground will help SpaceX prove to itself, customers and the insurance community that a rocket flying for the second time is as reliable as a vehicle just out of the factory.
Thats probably more the long pole in getting to flight than doing anything to the vehicle itself, said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceXs president and chief operating officer, in an April interview with Spaceflight Now.
. . .
In parallel with the engineering tests, SpaceXs management and sales team is working behind the scenes to assuage insurance underwriters on the risks of reusing Falcon 9 boosters.
Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceXs vice president of commercial sales, said earlier this week that the launch company is meeting with insurance firms in the next couple of weeks, according to a report in Space News.
Hofeller made his remarks at the CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum in Singapore. The meetings with insurance providers will help make sure they understand our process for certifying these (previously-flown boosters) and getting them ready for flight, Hofeller said in the Space News report.
Shotwell told Spaceflight Now in April that it will take some time to satisfy concerns in the insurance community. In the Space News report, an unnamed insurer said the risk management community is more than willing to underwrite Falcon 9 launches, presumably with used components, but wants more information.
But we would like to know exactly what we are insuring, the official said, according to Space News. They have move rather quickly through design modifications for the rocket and its not always clear what new elements have been introduced.
Shotwell outlined SpaceXs relationship with the insurance industry in April.
Theyve already gotten the qualification of the Merlin engine (for multiple missions), which tends to drive the insurance community, Shotwell told Spaceflight Now. Structures is a little more definitive analytically. You can kind of get through that. I think its the engines, and they already know that theyve been qualified for more than one flight. I dont think its going to be a big lift with the insurance community, but its certainly going to take work.