SpaceX are going to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 on the "barge"

For the next launch of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, its creators planned something very special: an attempt to land the first stage on a floating platform. The dimensions of the platform are approximately 90 meters in length and 30 meters in width, excluding additional side platforms and a little more than 50 meters with them. It is worth remembering that the scope of the landing rods of the launch vehicle is about 21 meters.



Thus, if in the case of previous launches, landing accuracy was required within 10 kilometers, now for a successful launch of the launch vehicle onto the platform the maximum error should not exceed about 10 meters. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the platform will be unbroken and, despite its ability to correct its location, a slight drift cannot be completely ruled out.

The step return procedure will begin immediately after its separation. The engines will be restarted three times: the first launch is designed to correct the path to enter the atmosphere, the second is to reduce the descent rate from 1300 meters per second to 250 and, finally, the third launch will occur just before landing to further reduce the speed to several meters per second.
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Additional accuracy must be ensured by the four independently controlled grating handlebars of the stage already tested.



SpaceX assesses the chances of success is low: no more than 50%, and provided that the events will develop in the framework of an optimistic scenario. However, even if it is not possible to land the stage, invaluable data for further work on the reusable launch vehicle will be collected. In total, SpaceX has at least a dozen more launches scheduled for the next year, and they believe that this number will be quite enough not only to work out the landing, but also to attempt to restart the successfully returned stage.