SpaceX will try to catch half of the Falcon 9 rocket fairing using a giant mesh. Her picture was posted on Twitter by Teslarati photojournalist Pauline Akalin.
The photographer was able to capture the giant grid deployed on the Mr. Steven at the Port of San Pedro in Los Angeles (USA). The design is intended to mitigate the fall of the Falcon 9 element following the launch of the Spanish PAZ satellite, scheduled for February 21.
At an altitude of about one hundred kilometers, the speed of a one-ton half of the nose fairing will be about ten times the speed of sound. At an altitude of about ten kilometers, in the case of a successful orientation of the rocket element in space, it should be half the speed of sound. In this section of the trajectory, the parachute is expected to be deployed on the head fairing and the GPS system will be activated, which will allow Mr. Steven track the area of the missile's impact.
The Falcon 9 head fairing, consisting of two halves, is estimated at $ 6 million. The salvation of half of the fairing will allow SpaceX to reduce the cost of launching a heavy rocket, estimated at $ 62 million, by about five percent.