SpX Mertlin 1D (Falcon 9 v1.1 update)

[Dr Mordrid]

The new Merlin 1D firing, This is about 45% more powerful than the Merlin 1C engine used for the recent ISS flight. Imagine 9 (Falcon 9 v1.1), or 27 (Falcon Heavy) of these things going off at once.

The citizens of McGregor, Texas (SpaceX test center) are gonna need a lot of notice befor stage qualifications

That said - they seem to have simplified this thing a lot. It's about 1/3 lighter and much cheaper to make - the latter because of the use of explosive hydro-forming instead of machining to make the basic shapes of the thrust chamber and the nozzle. SpaceX says they can crank them out like sausages - up to 700 a year on just one line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=976LHTpnZkY

[Jammrock]

SpaceX reminds me more and more of NASA in the 60s.

[Dr Mordrid]

That sentiment is shared by a lot of people.

There was a survey done at aerospace engineering schools last year an about 60% of the grads said they wanted to work at SpaceX over Lockheed Martin, Boeing or NASA. They have the pick of the cream of the crop and need them; they are hiring like mad and are running 3 shifts at Hawthorn. Some people think they're going to have to build another factory in the East.

Makes sense since they'll be ramping up ops at KSC, starting up at Vandenberg for polar orbits and building their own spaceport to handle other launches and the testing of the Falcon 9R - the reusable fly-back booster.

[Dr Mordrid]

Aviation Week & Space Technology interview with SpaceX's President Gwynne Shotwell confirming the much upgraded F9 v1.1 will have an octagonal + center engine arrangement instead of the 3x3 tic-tac-toe of F9 v1.0. This puts the thrust loads closer to the tank skins, which more evenly distributes them and lightens the thrust structure (engine mount). The center engine adds to steering and, in the future, landing capability for a reusable / landable F9R.

http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:04ce340e-4b63-4d23-9695-d49ab661f385&plckPostId=Blog%3A04ce340e-4b63-4d23-9695-d49ab661f385Post%3A8039e573-151a-434a-808d-bb5a8a3ad59b

[Dr Mordrid]

Merlin 1D Vacuum (M1DVac) engine - the core of the new Falcon 9 v1.1 & Falcon Heavy upper stage.

Besides the explosive hydroformed fabrication, which is faster and much cheaper than machining & plating the thrust chamber, it's simpler and has much more thrust that the Merlin 1C Vacuum in current use.

Falcon 9 v1.1, M1D (sea level) and M1DVac will make their maiden flight from the new SpaceX pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) in Q1 2013.

Fabrication: explosive hydroforming

Thrust: 80 metric tonnes (176,370 lb/f)