Comments on: Dislodged fuel filter identified as cause of Virgin Orbit launch failure

By: Robert Zimmerman

Robert Zimmerman — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 02:59:30 +0000

In reply to Frank. Frank. Oy. Fixed. Thank you. My roots however are really Flatbush, Brooklyn, not Arizona. :)

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 01:52:25 +0000

Mojave, CA not Mohave.
You show your AZ roots.

By: M Puckett

M Puckett — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 22:28:45 +0000

It’s to capture missed FOD most likely.

By: Edward

Edward — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 21:28:02 +0000

pzatchok wrote: “As long as the RP-1 tank on the rocket is clean and the fuel is clean then they do not need a fuel filter at all.”

Somebody on the design team thought it was important, otherwise they would not have accepted the weight penalty. On the second stage, pretty much every ounce of weight is an ounce reduced from the payload capacity. This is why fairings are separated as early as is safe, saving weight and allowing for more payload to orbit.

SpaceX accepts quite a weight penalty in taking Starship’s nosecone all the way to orbit, but they believe that the overall cost savings is worth the penalty. SpaceX’s goal is low cost, not maximum payload.

Could it be that the somebody on LauncherOne’s design team was being overly cautious? Perhaps, but what would we be saying if the problem had been contamination in the fuel line and that there were no filter to prevent the contamination from reaching the pump or the engine?

By: pzatchok

pzatchok — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 17:53:58 +0000

You know what?

As long as the RP-1 tank on the rocket is clean and the fuel is clean then they do not need a fuel filter at all.

Its all expendable so they are not protecting it for the next flight.

They could literally place a bypass in place of the filter and before the rocket is launched they can use an external filter to wash out and filter all of the fuel on the rocket during fueling.

They should be filtering the fuel on each transfer from one tank to the next.