Pojawiają się spekulacje dotyczące zaniechania odzysku pierwszego stopnia.
Być może z powodu planowanego wprowadzenia w 2018 bardziej wydajnego Block 5
SpaceX to skip first stage landing for upcoming Iridium launchby Jeff Foust — December 20, 2017
(...) SpaceX offered few details about the decision not to land the booster. “These are case-by-case decisions and are based on mission requirements and the needs of our manifest,” a company spokesperson said in response to a
SpaceNews inquiry. (...)
The three previous Falcon 9 launches of Iridium satellites all included first stage landings on SpaceX’s “drone ship” landing pad in the Pacific Ocean. The first stage for the upcoming launch is a reused stage that first flew on a June launch that placed the second set of 10 Iridium satellites into orbit.
This has led to speculation that SpaceX is no longer interested in landing older versions of the Falcon 9. This stage is of the “Block 3” variant of the rocket that, along with the Block 4, is carrying out Falcon 9 missions today. The company expects to introduce a Block 5 version early next year that will incorporate lessons from the earlier versions to enable greater reuse. (...)
http://spacenews.com/spacex-to-skip-first-stage-landing-for-upcoming-iridium-launch/The Block 5 engines will produce more power and features a redesign to make the engines easier to reuse on multiple flights. The Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 will also incorporate changes to meet NASA safety requirements for launches with astronauts heading for the International Space Station.
“Block 5 is the last big spin on Falcon 9, and it’s largely driven by the upgrade that we needed to make for the commercial crew program, as well as national security space launch requirements,” said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, during a question-and-answer session in February.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/11/09/engine-for-upgraded-falcon-9-rocket-explodes-on-test-stand/