Governor Martinez Announces New Spaceport America Tenant SpaceX to Flight Test Reusable Rocket “Grasshopper”
“Governor Susana Martinez today announced that Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, has signed a three-year agreement to lease land and facilities at Spaceport America to conduct the next phase of flight testing for its reusable rocket program. The company will be a new tenant at Spaceport America, the state-owned commercial launch site located in southern New Mexico.”
Elon Musk’s SpaceX signs lease at NM spaceport, AP
“Spaceport America Executive Director Christine Anderson said the Grasshopper project is moving from McGregor, Texas, to New Mexico because the rocket needs to be tested at higher altitudes. The reusable rocket could revolutionize the commercial space industry by greatly reducing costs, she said. Traditional rockets burn up on re-entry.”

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18 replies on “SpaceX Testing Heads For New Mexico”

  1. I read somewhere they are going to be testing the booster retro firings starting with the Vandenberg launch.

    1. That’s right, the Cassiope launch this July will test the turn-around and braking burn. In the event (and SpaceX says this isn’t likely) that the core survives re-entry, they’ll try a soft splash-down under propulsion.

      1. Wow that’s cool. Good to get some testing in as early as possible if they have the opportunity!

  3. I think “Dragon” is a typo for “Grasshopper” in the title of this item.

    1. Chris:

      …or maybe not. Remember, crewed Dragon is designed for propulsive landings too. They could take same testing route as Grasshopper with short up and down flights to test the terminal landing sequence, maybe even piloted.

      tinker

      1. A SpaceXer told a Waco paper that “some” Grasshopper testing will stay in McGregor. Engine cluster tests on the tripod and leg deployment?

      2. I have thought for a while that Dragonrider needs its own set of hover and descent tests. I’m wondering if we’ll see a full descent test similar to the parachute tests where a capsule is dropped from a high-altitude helicopter and performs a landing sequence (under computer control, of course). That would probably be the last in the test series.

    2. Or…. Launch the Dragon LAS tests from Grasshopper. That way you recover the first stage after each test. Much cheaper then the standard method (throw away whole rocket with each test)

    1. With the SpaceX group now being next door neighbors to Virgin Galactic in New Mexico, I wonder if we’ll see more or less openness in media reporting on the two. They have different methodologies and different markets, but they likely deal with a lot of the same people in industry and government, so hearsay may become more common, or everybody might become a little more tight-lipped. I hope there are no adverse affects. To date, these two companies have been first rate in their press to the the public.

  5. To get the whole 21st century spacecraft gang together, NASA should bring the Orion capsule roadshow to Spaceport America. Orion and its tractor trailer could drag race alongside SpaceShipTwo as it does its return glide ground roll.

    PAO could even issue a press release about the continued success of the SLS ground transportation testing program, with stress testing of the Orion-Trailer mounting points and all. Inspiring the next generation of Orion big rig drivers, and load masters.

  6. Listening to the Mars propulsive landing discussion they were worried about supersonic gas flow backing down.Nobody has started an engine. The hot gases will burn up the sides. It sounds like F9 will have to be very slow. So they will have to slow down before they hit the atmosphere and keep it powered all the way down or use parachutes. Maybe use the Soyuz method of a flat spinning entry, Elon has talked about going supersonic,but that is going up. It might tear it apart backing down supersonic. The flight has been put off until July.
    Mars people say the parachute will be too big for what they want to land. Using 3 parachutes could extend the system they use now. Many small landers might work. Take many small landers on a single flight. Do what you have to do, rather than what you want to do. A lot of options with a 30′ fairing on SLS.

    1. S13:

      Backing down slow sounds good to me. Mars atmosphere is very thin, a hundredth of Earths, so why not treat it as airless world and use a landing profile like Apollo on the Moon. Come in slow and use what air there is to advantage where it’s possible instead of not enough air to brake to terminal velocity.

      If they can carry the fuel they need and they expect to refuel on Mars so they are almost empty coming in to land. Then they refuel and take off straight to Earth, re-enter and land propulsively after using Earths atmosphere to do most of the slowing down. Stack it on top of a reusable first stage and launch again.

      The only way to see if engine-on entry to Mars or engine startup during supersonic entry works is to try it.

      tinker

    2. The ballute used by Armadillo on the Stig looks like the best strategy to me; compact and light, and deployed in space, it gets the vehicle subsonic before dynamic pressure builds up.

  7. I do not understand why KSC wasn’t considered for this test program. Unless it was the regulatory environment.

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