Comments on: NASA has officially handed control of launchpad 39A to SpaceX, where the company intends to launch its Falcon Heavy. https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/nasa-has-officially-handed-control-of-launchpad-39a-to-spacex-where-the-company-intends-to-launch-its-falcon-heavy/ Thu, 17 Apr 2014 02:54:24 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Edward https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/nasa-has-officially-handed-control-of-launchpad-39a-to-spacex-where-the-company-intends-to-launch-its-falcon-heavy/#comment-164105 Thu, 17 Apr 2014 02:54:24 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=28171#comment-164105 “SpaceX’s current processing paradigm uses horizontal integration, where satellites are bolted to the launch vehicle inside a hangar, then the rocket rolls to the launch pad and is hoisted upright within hours of liftoff.”

A couple of years ago, SpaceX tested this paradigm by putting a rocket on a pad and running the countdown to ignition +2 seconds (or so) within 24 hours. I believe that they intend to increase launch pad availability by reducing the time that a rocket spends on the pad from days to hours. Right now, one of the limiting factors on launches is the lack of pad availability (thus, there is no need to make a lot of rockets), but with reusable rockets, there should be plenty around to use for the next launch, and an available pad is golden.

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