Questions tagged [fairings]
Questions regarding the hardware, development, use and cost of rocket fairings and protective shells.
80
questions
5
votes
1
answer
112
views
Is the depressurization performance of fairing during ascent ever tested on the ground before flight?
Fairing is the upper part of the launch vehicle that covers payload. This payload is very sensitive because of the high speed of vehicle produces a lot of heat. Fairing bears all of it. The pressure ...
- 91
1
vote
0
answers
101
views
How is TPS applied on two halves of payload fairing separation line when they joined together?
This is a basic question, but I really want to know how a TPS can be applied on two halves of the fairing joint line. We see in pictures that many fairing halves have cork tiles and their joint (...
- 381
0
votes
0
answers
37
views
Is ESD coating is necessary for payload fairing?
As per my understanding,a composite payload fairing have a cork tiles as TPS and than a top white coat for moisture protection. But is there any requirement of electro-static discharge coating as well ...
- 381
2
votes
0
answers
61
views
How to confirm payload fairing seperation
How do launch providers confirm fairing separation? I know they have a video feed, but I assume there's a more reliable (short delay) means of detecting separation. Is it as simple as a limit switch?
4
votes
1
answer
299
views
What is the significance of a heat flux value of 1135 W/m^2 when jettisoning the payload fairing? [duplicate]
I have seen that many rockets jettison their payload fairing at an altitude where the aerothermal heatflux is leass than or equal to 1135 W/m^2. What is the reason behind considering this particular ...
- 41
0
votes
1
answer
243
views
Are Falcon Heavy fairings reused?
I heard a lot about SpaceX reusing the fairings from the Falcon 9. Do they/ are they planning to do the same for Falcon Heavy?
- 5,317
3
votes
1
answer
289
views
How can you find out how many times a SpaceX fairing has been reused?
For the past few years, SpaceX has been reusing there fairings. While on some SpaceX webcasts they tell you, others they dont. Is there a way to find out how many times judging from how they appear? ...
- 5,317
2
votes
1
answer
304
views
Why do the Falcon 9 fairings have soot on them?
On nearly every SpaceX webcast since 2020 they explain that the Falcon 9 booster has soot on it because, during the entry burn, it flies through its own exhaust plume very quickly depositing the ...
- 5,317
8
votes
1
answer
306
views
Have there been any rockets whose payload fairings consisted of more than two parts?
Most cargo rockets, such as Falcon 9, Delta IV, and many others, incorporate payload fairings to protect payloads from aero forces and heating during ascent. All of these rockets' fairings split in ...
- 3,125
6
votes
1
answer
611
views
Why aren't smaller fairings used for smaller payloads?
I saw this picture of the DART spacecraft being encapsulated in its payload fairing.
Why doesn't SpaceX manufacture a smaller (shortened or thinned) fairing for the spacecraft? It reduces mass and is ...
- 3,125
0
votes
1
answer
124
views
Are there payloads that went to orbit without a protective fairing?
Reading about the Ultralight Starshade Structural Design,
It seems some solution among others could be an umbrella based concept
Since the starshade has to be roughly 100m in diameter, one could ...
user19132
2
votes
1
answer
206
views
Why the payload fairing separation occurred at high altitude of 183 km for Vega C VV21?
For various launch vehicles it usually it occurs at altitude around 110-120 km range but for inaugural launch of Vega C flight VV21 payload fairing jettison altitude seems too high, why is it so?
- 1,822
8
votes
1
answer
202
views
Neutron boosters second stage inside the fairing, is this unique?
RocketLabs announced info about the new Neutron booster.
Neutron Booster video
Many interesting aspects summarized as:
The landing legs do not deploy, but are permanently mounted around a relatively ...
- 80.2k
9
votes
1
answer
842
views
How hot do the nose cones of fairings actually get on ascent?
I've been reading into aerodynamic heating of rockets, and it's seemingly a rather complicated topic. It's relatively easy to calculate the stagnation temperature at a given mach number, and that is ...
- 461
4
votes
1
answer
294
views
What kind of valves are used in payload fairing for venting?
I wanted to know that there have been a handful of literature that mentions vent openings in the rocket payload fairings. However, none specify the kind of valves used in those fairings?
Does anyone ...
- 91
2
votes
1
answer
786
views
Why not use alternative/low-pressure atmospheres in fairings during launch?
For example: using a reduced pressure helium atmosphere.
Most fairings are already cleanroom environments.
Benefits I can see:
Eliminate need for acoustic tiles as low pressure and/or light gasses (...
- 499
5
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What are the longest current rocket payload fairings, capable of carrying long space station sections?
Space News' China launches Tianhe space station core module into orbit
China successfully launched a 22-metric-ton module April 28, beginning an intense period of missions for constructing the nation’...
- 149k
24
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Are SpaceX Falcon rocket boosters significantly cheaper to operate than traditional expendable boosters?
The title pretty much sums it all up. I remember somebody once remarked about the space shuttle program that “the space shuttle was originally designed to be a space truck. But the shuttle is to ...
- 383
5
votes
0
answers
123
views
Have any stages of rocket killed aquatic animals?
This question may seem off-topic but I am curious.Those rockets that aren't reusable let their stages fall and splash down on the ocean. Is there any news reported that they have killed some aquatic ...
- 1,516
2
votes
0
answers
79
views
How hot the payload fairing of Falcon 9 can get?
When going up, what is the peak temperature of the Falcon 9 payload fairing?
Is it heating uniformly or there is a significant temperature difference between various regions of the fairing?
- 2,660
1
vote
1
answer
131
views
How long it takes for the Falcon 9 payload fairings to reach the sea?
The payload fairings of Falcon 9 are released at about 3:15 min
How much time they need to fall and reach the sea?
And what is their maximum speed while reentry?
- 2,660
3
votes
0
answers
180
views
What are the protrusions on the outside of the Falcon 9 nose fairing?
Near the base of the Falcon 9 nose fairing is an array of square protrusions (marked in red) that you'd probably want to avoid unless they serve a very essential purpose. Does anyone know what that ...
user36480
9
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What happens to payload fairings of GEO launches?
Say you launch a satellite into GEO using Falcon9
The 1st stage returns
The 2nd stage is moved into graveyard orbit.
But what happens to the payload fairings?
- 2,660
3
votes
1
answer
189
views
Does RUAG Space recover and reuse Ariane 5 and Atlas V payload fairings after splashdown?
RUAG Space is the company that manufactures payload fairings for the Ariane, Vega, Atlas V (500 series) and the upcoming Vulcan.
Back when Spacex started trying to catch the fairing without it hitting ...
- 5,475
5
votes
1
answer
176
views
Was ULA's mobile clean room on the ground floor or up near the top of the rocket? What were the logistics for getting Perseverance up there?
Spaceflight Now's ULA’s Atlas 5 is NASA’s go-to rocket for nuclear-powered space probes quotes Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance:
Bruno said the mobile clean room set up inside ...
- 149k
3
votes
1
answer
499
views
What are the needle pins that go through the pneumatic pushers of the Falcon 9 fairing?
The Falcon 9 fairing uses four pneumatic pushers to impart a positive separation force between the fairing halves. The pushers all mount on half of the fairing and push against the other half.
But ...
user36480
2
votes
0
answers
82
views
Would the 6.5 ton capable Blue Moon lander fit in New Glenn?
As the 2 massive projects of the same company, are they designed to be compatible for NASA's CLPS program ? New Glenn's said to have a 7 m payload fairing diameter but as far as I know, Blue Moon's ...
- 99
2
votes
1
answer
131
views
Shape of satellite launch vehicle
I was watching videos on YouTube, and I came across a fact that satellite launch vehicle has shape like a nose or you can ogive shape and I search on Google related to that, and I found that it ...
- 429
1
vote
1
answer
136
views
Calculating trajectories of payload fairings
How can I calculate the trajectory of a payload fairing assuming that I have several data points of height or speed of rocket?
I'd like to know which topics are necessary to study this.
- 11
6
votes
1
answer
371
views
How do ships catch fairings? Can fairings steer or do the ships do all the work?
A comment in The Pod Bay says it all:
...fourth Starlink payload launched. Booster landed on OCISLY. (Has now launched three times, LC-39A, SLC-40, SLC-4W once at each launch pad they own!)
And they ...
- 149k
2
votes
0
answers
52
views
How come the SpaceX fairing doesn't get burned on return? [duplicate]
In the SpaceX January 29, 2020 Starlink mission, the fairing separation happened at the altitude of 104 km, speed 8636 km/h. SpaceX is trying to retrieve the fairing halves and reuse them.
104 km is ...
- 381
7
votes
0
answers
130
views
How long does the SYLDA fairing stay in orbit after deploying?
For dual-manifest missions, Ariane 5 often uses the Système de Lancement Double or SYLDA system to encapsulate the lower of two stacked satellites. It can be seen in the following image encapsulating ...
- 1,140
6
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Why is the diameter of the boosters of some launch vehicles smaller than the diameter of their payload fairing?
Whilst watching yesterday's Starliner launch I've noticed how skinny that Centaur (3.1m) looks compared to the CST-100 (4.5m).
Looking up the Atlas V I was amazed to find out that it has even larger (...
- 6,432
1
vote
0
answers
175
views
What is the surface area of Falcon 9 payload fairing?
what is the external surface area of the payload fairing of the Falcon 9 ?
- 1,251
7
votes
2
answers
827
views
What is the fate of SLA fairings jettisoned from lunar mission spacecrafts?
After TLI burn, just before Transposition, Docking and Extraction, the later design crafts jettisoned 4 pieces of the SLA fairing/shroud. These 4 pieces supposedly would follow similar path as the CSM/...
- 6,432
3
votes
2
answers
291
views
Why use an air conditioning blanket instead of supplying air into the fairing?
This answer explains that some Atlas payloads were covered in an air coditioning blanket before launch.
I can imagine that the payload has some thermal requirements, but a blanket looks lust plain ...
- 1,452
3
votes
0
answers
127
views
Has one satellite's outgassing ever affected another satellite in the same fairing? Documented examples?
At about 01:31 in Scott Manley's new video RocketLab & Reusable Rockets - Plasma Knifes, Ballutes, Helicopters and... Elephants he says:
This occurs during a ...
- 149k
6
votes
0
answers
324
views
What (the heck) is this purple donut in the video of the Falcon 9 fairing's atmospheric reentry?
This SpaceX tweet (found in CNET's SpaceX camera captures incredible view of rocket part returning to Earth) shows a video taken by a camera in one half of the fairing on the recent STP-2 mission and ...
- 149k
17
votes
5
answers
5k
views
Reusable spacecraft: why still have fairings detach, instead of open/close?
Why do reusable rockets (e.g. SpaceX Falcon 9) still utilize detachable fairings? SpaceX keeps trying to find a way to recover the $6M fairings for obvious cost saving reasons, why not have them ...
- 179
5
votes
1
answer
546
views
Could a fairing vacuum protect the payload from acoustic loads?
This is a weirder question, but here it goes:
During launch, a payload (let's say a satellite) undergoes intense shaking and acoustic loads. This is known from the launcher parameters and the ...
- 205
3
votes
2
answers
322
views
Would it be practical to add side payloads on top of Falcon Heavy's side boosters?
Those side payloads / side fairings, would be strapped on central core second stage, on top of side boosters.
The idea is to increase payload volume without (that much) changing drag during the lift ...
user19132
6
votes
0
answers
79
views
How are interplanetary spacecraft protected from biological contamination while being integrated on their launchers?
After having been disinfected in some NASA lab for forward planetary protection reasons, how are spacecraft stored and brought to the launch pad and loaded into the fairings, in order to prevent them ...
- 27k
4
votes
2
answers
211
views
Is half of a SpaceX fairing a viable lifting body?
If it was powered, would a shape such as a half-fairing produce any lift, or could it be modified to both work as fairing, and lifting body?
- 499
2
votes
0
answers
278
views
Payload fairing separation- Event based or time based?
Refer the answer for this question How strong and "hot" is the wind on the payload after the fairing is deployed at ~110km?
It is clear that the fairings are separated when the free ...
- 1,161
14
votes
1
answer
2k
views
On large diameter Atlas V fairings, why is the Centaur inside the fairing?
When including an image in an answer to this question: Was New Horizons launched on a copper rocket? I noticed that for the larger diameter fairings (Atlas 501 and up) the Centaur upper stage is ...
- 188k
1
vote
1
answer
214
views
Which one of these (if any) is the Moon? What are the rest?
I frequently see the Moon in SpaceX videos, "I suspect" the frequency is higher than random, but can't prove it (yet!)
I found the SpaceX video Falling Back to Earth | HD Footage From Space (also ...
- 149k
4
votes
1
answer
769
views
How is payload fairing designed?
What are all the design criteria considered when designing a payload fairing (some are payload volume, drag) ?
- 2,246
2
votes
0
answers
76
views
Falcon fairing half - between separation and parachutes deployment
How does Falcon fairing half behaves in atmosphere before parachutes deployment?
What is its free fall attitude in atmosphere?
Is the fairing's attitude stable (with some wobbling, but without ...
- 9,081
1
vote
1
answer
279
views
Would having the Falcon fairing reconnect be possible/beneficial?
I understand that many of the problems with recovering the two pieces of the Falcon 9 fairing deal with the weird aerodynamic patterns of the descent. It is by no means an aerodynamically sound object ...
- 9,417
1
vote
1
answer
399
views
Why doesn't SpaceX deploy some module to cover whole fairing like a rain coat just before sea landing? [duplicate]
In order to avoid fairing to get wet in water, why can't SpaceX just deploy something such that when fairings separate from the Falcon 9 then from inside some raincoat type waterproofing to just cover ...
- 527