SpaceX will conduct its first rocket launch test in 2015 at 6:20 am on January 6th, US Eastern Time. For reusable rocket technology, this may be an event that changes the rules of the game.

In this launch experiment, SpaceX will try to make the bottom of the rocket fall vertically to the floating platform in the sea, so that it remains intact for reuse. The experiment was originally scheduled for December 19 last year, but in the static ignition test on December 17, the rocket's Merlin 1D engine failed to meet the test requirements, and SpaceX then changed the experiment to early 2015.

The second static ignition test on December 19 last year was a success, clearing the way for the official launch in January 2015. For reusable rocket technology, it is a big difficulty to land the rocket on a floating platform at sea. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that the success rate of this launch experiment is 50%.

Reusable rocket technology

In the launch on January 6 this year, SpaceX's rockets will carry up to 3,700 pounds of material on the Dragon's International Space Station, including scientific laboratory equipment, spare parts, food, water and other supplies.

However, the most important part of this launch experiment is not how much material is transported, but how to return. After SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket runs out of fuel, it will be separated from the dragoncraft. The rocket will use GPS navigation technology and it will land on a floating platform in the Atlantic. This task is not easy.

“In previous attempts, we were only able to set landing accuracy within 10 km (6.2 miles). In this experiment, our target landing accuracy was within 10 meters (33 feet).” SpaceX Said in the statement.

It's like "trying to balance the rubber broom in your hand during a storm," SpaceX said in a statement.

Prior to the SpaceX experiment, there was no precedent for the first-stage rocket to be recycled. If the experiment on January 6 is successful, the company will establish a new standard for space exploration and will greatly reduce aerospace costs.

For manned space missions on Mars, it is extremely important to create rockets that can be reused. Because this requires the rocket not only to land on Mars, but also to return to Earth safely.

Rocket soft landing experiment

In order to make the rocket achieve a soft landing in the ocean, SpaceX conducted several trials last year. A soft landing will keep the rocket intact and reusable. In a trial in mid-April 2014, SpaceX successfully achieved the first soft landing of the rocket in history, but the rocket was then turned over and destroyed in the high seas, so that it could not be repaired. This did not stop SpaceX from exploring. Since they can't land in the water, they turn to other ways.

SpaceX plans to create a floating platform at sea that will be self-stabilizing, waiting for the rocket to return from space.

“I think we have the possibility of letting the rocket land on a floating platform in the sea,” Musk said at the MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium in October last year. "If we let the rocket land on it, then I think we can achieve rocket reuse."

Just last month, Musk released a picture of the offshore platform for rocket landing on Tweet, which is the size of a football field. In addition to GPS tracking technology, the company plans to use "X-wings" on the rocket to help the rocket return safely.

"The probability of a rocket landing on an offshore platform is no more than 50% and no less than 50%." Musk said, "But we will conduct at least 12 launch experiments in the next 12 months. I think it is very Maybe (about 80 90% probability), one of the experiments will be successful. So, I think we are quite close to our goal."

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