SpaceX COO Claims the Company Will Produce 20 Rockets in 2017 – Futurism

In Brief During an appearance on an online radio show, SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell revealed the company's upcoming plans for its Falcon Heavy rockets and more. As reusable rockets become the standard, space is becoming cheaper and more accessible.

SpaceX has no plans to relax following their recent successful weekend doubleheader. Serial entrepreneur Elon Musks space venture company is already looking ahead, beginning with a final upgrade to their Falcon 9 rocket scheduled for later this year.

We are flying Block 3s right now, SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell saidduring a June 22 appearance on the online radio program The Space Show. Block 4s start flying shortly, and then Block 5 at the end of this year. We definitely have gotten better [at] more smooth introducing of change. You dont see the big impacts to production weve had before when weve changed vehicle designs.

Block 5 is going to be the definitive version for the Falcon 9, Shotwell explained, and it is capable of being relaunched a dozen or so times. It would also not require refurbishing the reusable rocket would simply undergo inspections prior to launch.

Shotwell said during her radio show appearance that SpaceXs much larger Falcon Heavysfirst mission in 2018 will be carrying a payload for Arabsat. Well be flying Arabsat to [geostationary transfer orbit] on the second Falcon Heavy flight, and then well be flying STP-2, an Air Force mission, she said. In total, the Falcon Heavy has three missions scheduled in the next 18 months, the first being a demonstrationlater in 2017.

SpaceX has much more planned for the months to come, including that commercial Moon roundtrip. Three years ago or so we were producing six rockets a year, Shotwell said. This year we are going to produce more than 20. When you consider that reusability is a key element of SpaceXs design, you can imagine just how many missions those rockets will be capable of handling in the coming years.

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SpaceX COO Claims the Company Will Produce 20 Rockets in 2017 - Futurism