The head of SpaceX, Ilon Musk, likes to share plans for creating various systems and talk about various projects. For example, he remembers the super-heavy BFR rocket (Big Falcon Rocket, which, by the way, is also called the Big Fucking Rocket) at every opportunity. But now the talk is accompanied by a demonstration of the component parts of this system. In particular, in 2016 Musk showed a composite tank for compressed liquid oxygen. After a while, the company posted a video of the operation of
the Raptor engines .
Not so long ago, a
document appeared that testifies to the start of work on the creation of SpaceX's production facilities for the manufacture of BFR rocket parts. Location of production, as far as can be understood - the port of Los Angeles. Musk also said that carbon composites will play an important role in the rocket creation process. From them will make the top element of the rocket, the spacecraft
BFS (BF Ship) . Carbon fiber, which has long been the material for the manufacture of a variety of elements, including the body of racing cars, airplanes and even fishing rods, will be used in the construction of BFR.
This is facilitated by such fiber properties as lightness, resistance to high temperatures, minimal expansion when heated, etc. Aluminum alloys are commonly used in the rocket industry. Carbon fiber will help reduce the mass of manufactured elements, so that the rocket will carry more payload than in the case of using aluminum as the main material.
Production facilities for work on the BFS building will be located in the hangar, which is now being built in Los Angeles.
The location of the production is not accidental. The hangar (or maybe the hangar) is located near the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, USA. This was done in order to simplify the task of logisticians sending components for testing to test and launch sites.
So far, all this is only the beginning, but as far as can be judged, the process is gradually moving. Rocket engines are being developed, composite materials are being created for the rocket body. Its parameters were presented last year. It is believed that the rocket will be universal, it can replace the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon.
With it, it will be possible to make both flights on Earth, and go to other planets. If we talk about terrestrial flights, then most of the routes will be very short - half-hour. The longest flight will be (if it opens, of course) from New York to Sydney (Australia) - 49 minutes. But there will be no restrictions between flights, passengers will not be dependent on the airline schedule. Somehow, Musk is going to ensure that the cost of an orbital flight ticket from one point of the globe to another does not exceed the price of the ticket.
Earlier, Musk gave a list of possible routes with their duration:
Here are some routes:
- Los Angeles - New York: 25 minutes
- New York - Paris: 30 minutes
- London - Cape Town: 34 minutes
- Los Angeles - Buenos Aires: 35 minutes
- Los Angeles - Shanghai: 36 minutes
- New York - Tokyo: 37 minutes
- Sydney - Johannesburg: 37 minutes
- Delhi - San Francisco: 40 minutes
- Doha - Auckland: 45 minutes
- New York - Sydney: 37 minutes
- Sydney - Zurich: 50 minutes
In addition to traveling around the globe, BFR will allow you to send lunar missions, and without the need to produce fuel on the moon. Last year, Musk said that thanks to the rocket, it would be possible to create a lunar base, which was already called Moon Base Alpha.
The length of the rocket is 106 meters, diameter - 9 meters. In the rocket accelerator will involve 31 engine, on a spacecraft - six. At the same time, the BFR carrying capacity will be 150 tons, which is five times more than that of the super-heavy Falcon Heavy rocket. According to SpaceX representatives, the presence of 31 engines will improve the reliability of the rocket, since it will be able to land even if the engine fails. Well, it will sit down very precisely, so that it does not need the so-called landing knives.
BFR will work as a ship for Mars. The first cargo missions to the Red Planet will be completed as early as 2022. Musk believes that it is the BFR - a key element in the exploration of the Moon and Mars. At the latter, it will be possible to create a colony and begin mining operations, build energy infrastructure and life support systems. First, the work will be carried out in automatic mode, and then, in 2024, the first astronauts will be sent to a neighbor of the Earth.