Blue Origin successfully flies to edge of space and recovers booster

[RichardPrice]

The barges are needed because it opens up the range of velocities you can use in a launch - need a higher staging velocity for a payload, but also need to recover the stage? Then you either need a lot more fuel to turn that baby around for the RTB burn to cancel out the lateral velocity, or you put a ship downrange for it to return to with less of a RTB burn, meaning less fuel required.

Remember that every pound of fuel loaded needs to carry itself, and the heavier the structure needs to be to support that additional fuel load - it starts becoming a diminishing return, so the best alternative is to land further away so you don't have to expend as much fuel getting back to the start point.

Why not have a down range land based pad? Well, when you are launching from Florida, the closest realistic land mass to do that on is Africa, when in fact the staging happens only at about 150 - 200 km down range, so the stage would need to cover another 3000km or so to make it to the landing pad.

The same issue exists for launches from the west coast at Vandenberg AFB - polar launches puts the nearest southern land mass as Antarctica, while western aspect launches puts Hawaii as the nearest land mass a few thousand km's down range and off on a southern heading.

Their Texas launch facility has an option to potentially land the first stage at Cape Canaveral, but that would require a lot of FAA approval and oversight as it means the launch trajectory would take it over populated areas (currently the launch trajectories from the Texas facility are very constrained due to Florida, the Caribbean islands and traffic in the Gulf - including a Florida landing would mean the first stage continuing down range for a lot longer than usual, plus it means less acceptable alternatives if the landing was aborted during staging).

So the barges, if they can be made to work, would dramatically increase the ability of the SpaceX launch vehicles to be reused, as each time you could not land them on a barge, you would essentially dispose of them in the ocean.

[SleeperService]

Thank You for the explanation Richard. Like many I couldn't quite get my head round the implications of reusing the launcher stage, now I understand.

[Eric Mc]

Having a large heavy pipe full of explosive propellants hurtling through the air on a ballistic trajectory at supersonic speeds is something that anybody living under the flight path might be worried about.

The barge provides much greater safety and flexibility when it comes to launch options.

[RichardPrice]

Aaaaaand SpaceX did it, landed a rocket on a barge

[Chillitt]

Aaaaaand SpaceX did it, landed a rocket on a barge

Yay! Dis I see somewhere the plan is to refuel them eventually and fly it back to the launch site? Not this particular one, but in good time..

[GordonD]

Aaaaaand SpaceX did it, landed a rocket on a barge

[SleeperService]

I can't see the floating barge idea working too well. Far better IMHO to concentrate on landing the thing on a stable surface then, maybe moving onto an unstable platform if you really think it's a good idea (which I don't).

I eat my hat after doffing it to these rather clever people. In the sixties 'All-up George Mueller' was right and the same tactic has triumphed again.

Some very clever and original ideas surfacing.