Falcon 9 booster B1048

Falcon 9 booster B1048 was a reusable orbital-class Block 5 Falcon 9 first-stage booster manufactured by SpaceX. B1048 was the third Falcon 9 Block 5 to fly and the second Block 5 booster to re-fly. It became the second orbital-class booster to fly a third time and is the first booster ever to be launched five times. B1048 service came to an end on its fifth flight when an engine shut down prematurely on launch. Whilst the primary mission was unaffected and the Starlink payload deployed successfully,[1] B1048 was unable to land. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced an investigation was underway following the launch anomaly. [2]

Falcon 9 booster B1048
B1048 following its second landing
Role First stage of orbital rocket
National origin United States
Type Falcon 9 first-stage booster
Manufacturer SpaceX
Construction number B1048
First flight July 25, 2018 (Iridium-7)
Last flight March 18, 2020 (Starlink L5)
Flights 5
Status Destroyed

Flight history

First flight

B1048 entered service on July 25, 2018, for the Iridium-7 mission. It was the third Falcon 9 Block 5 to enter service and the first to lift off from the west coast launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Station. The flight marked the 59th flight of the Falcon 9 and the 13th Falcon 9 flight for 2018. The booster lifted off despite the foggy weather and completed the two-and-a-half-minute burn before separating from the second stage and, despite stormy weather and choppy seas making booster recovery unlikely, the booster landed on the west coast ASDS Just Read the Instructions in the roughest seas for a landing attempt at the time. This marked the 5th landing out of 6 landing attempts on JRTI. Fairing recovery was attempted during the flight but failed due to the weather.[3]

Second flight

Despite being the third Block 5 to fly, B1048 was refurbished quicker than the older booster, B1047, and became the second Falcon 9 Block 5 to re-fly. B1048 launched the 62nd Falcon 9 mission for the SAOCOM 1A mission from Vandenberg on October 8, 2018. Due to the twilight effect on launches from the west coast, spectacular views were seen from Los Angeles and other Southern California cities.[4] This mission was historic as it was the first Falcon 9 to perform a RTLS landing on the west coast, landing at LZ-4 just minutes after lifting off.[5]

Third flight

Following landing, B1048 was transported to the east coast and launched the Nusantara Satu mission on February 22, 2019. This marked the second time an orbital-class booster flew three times. The re-entry was the highest re-entry heating to date due to the high energy profile of the mission.[6] This caused the booster to also land further down range than a normal landing. Fairing recovery was planned for the mission but abandoned due to extremely rough weather. Despite the weather making it the hardest landing to date (even rougher than Iridium-7 which B1048 had endured on its maiden flight), B1048 successfully landed on the ASDS Of Course I Still Love You.

Fourth Flight

B1048 was originally scheduled to fly the in-flight abort test of the Crew Dragon; this would have brought B1048 service to an end after her fourth flight.[7] However, this was changed, and B1048 flew the Starlink Mission in November 2019 from SLC-40. On this mission, B1048 became the first Booster to fly four times and also featured for the first time re-used fairings.[8] B1048 successfully landed and returned home for future flights.

Fifth flight

B1048 flew a fifth time in March 2020, breaking the reusability record for Falcon 9. One of the engines shut down early on the ascent and the booster failed to land. However, the primary Starlink 5 mission to launch 60 Starlink satellites to a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) was successful.[9]

Flight # Launch date (UTC) Mission # Payload Pictures Launch pad Landing location Notes
1 July 25, 2018 59 Iridium-7 VAFB, SLC-4E Just Read the Instructions (ASDS) Third flight of the Block 5 booster and roughest landing conditions for a Falcon 9 at the time
2 October 8, 2018 62 SAOCOM 1A VAFB, SLC-4E LZ-4 Second flight of a Block 5 booster
3 February 22, 2019 68 Nusantara Satu
Beresheet		 CCAFS, LC-40 Of Course I Still Love You (ASDS) Second time a booster is flown three times and the roughest landing condition for a Falcon 9 to date
4 November 11, 2019 75 Starlink L1 CCAFS, LC-40 Of Course I Still Love You (ASDS) Flight carried 60 Starlink satellites. The first time a Falcon 9 booster has flown four times and the first flight of a reused fairing.
5 March 18, 2020 83 Starlink L5 KSC, 39A style="background: #ffbbbb; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-failure" | Failure

Of Course I Still Love You (ASDS)

 Flight carried 60 Starlink satellites. The first time a Falcon 9 booster has flown five times. Engine anomaly during ascent; booster failed to land.

B1048 records and achievements
  • First orbital-class booster to fly five times[10]
  • First and second flight of a re-used payload fairing (ocean splashdown)[10]

See also

References
  1. Atkinson, Ian. "SpaceX successfully launches sixth Starlink launch despite engine issue". NASASpaceflight. NASASpaceflight. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  2. Musk, Elon. "Yeah. There was also an early engine shutdown on ascent, but it didn't affect orbit insertion. Shows value of having 9 engines! Thorough investigation needed before next mission". Twitter. Elon Musk. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  3. Dodd, Tim (July 25, 2018). "SpaceX's flawless launch of Iridium 7 featuring lots of fog and a missed fairing recovery". Everyday Astronaut. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  4. Malik, Tariq (October 8, 2018). "Spectacular SpaceX Rocket Launch Lights Up the Southern California Night Sky". Space.com. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  5. Graham, William (October 7, 2018). "SpaceX Falcon 9 launches with SAOCOM 1A and nails first West Coast landing". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  6. Elon Musk [@elonmusk] (February 21, 2019). "Highest reentry heating to date. Burning metal sparks from base heat shield visible in landing video. Fourth relight scheduled for April" (Tweet). Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Twitter.
  7. Elon Musk [@elonmusk] (February 21, 2019). "Crew Dragon high altitude abort test" (Tweet). Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Twitter.
  8. Burghardt, Thomas. "SpaceX and Cape Canaveral Return to Action with First Operational Starlink Mission". NASASpaceflight. NASASpaceflight. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  9. "SpaceX successfully launches sixth Starlink launch despite engine issue". NASASpaceflight.com. March 18, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  10. "SpaceX and Cape Canaveral Return to Action with First Operational Starlink Mission". www.nasaspaceflight.com. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
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