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SpaceX’s Merlin 2 LOX/RP-1-fueled engine on a gas-generator cycle, capable of a projected 7,600 kN (1,700,000 lbf) of thrust at sea level and 8,500 kN (1,920,000 lbf) in a vacuum and would provide the power for conceptual super-heavy-lift launch vehicles from SpaceX, which Markusic dubbed Falcon X and Falcon XX.
Merlin 1A produced 340 kilonewtons (76,000 lb f) of thrust and was used to power the first stage of the first two Falcon 1 flights in 2006 and 2007. Merlin 1B had a somewhat more powerful turbo-pump, and generated more thrust, but was never flown on a flight vehicle before SpaceX's move to the Merlin 1C. Merlin 1D rocket engines on a Falcon 9 ...
Engine Origin Designer Vehicle Status Use Propellant Power cycle Specific impulse (s) [a] Thrust (N) [a] ... Merlin Vacuum 1D USA: SpaceX: Falcon 9 B5, Heavy: Active 2nd
In April 2017, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that Block 5 will feature 7–8% more thrust by uprating the engines (from 176,000 pounds-force (780,000 N) to 190,000 pounds-force (850,000 N) per engine). [14] Block 5 includes an improved flight control system for an optimized angle of attack on the descent, lowering landing fuel requirements.
SpaceX's Merlin and Kestrel rocket engines use a RP-1 and liquid oxygen ("kerolox") combination. Raptor has about triple the thrust of SpaceX's Merlin 1D engine, which powers the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Raptor was conceived to burn hydrogen and oxygen propellants as of 2009. [36]
The second stage of the Falcon 9 has 1 short or regular nozzle, Merlin 1D Vacuum engine version. Falcon 9 is capable of losing up to 2 engines and still complete the mission by burning the remaining engines longer. Each Merlin rocket engine is controlled by three voting computers, each having 2 CPUs which constantly check the other 2 in the trio.
SpaceX started with the idea that the smallest useful orbital rocket was the minimum viable product (Falcon 1 with about 450 kg or 990 lb to orbit), instead of building something larger and more complicated, and then running out of money and going bankrupt. [19] [citation needed] First-stage view of the Merlin engine.
The Falcon 9 v1.1 features stretched first and second stages, and a new octagonal arrangement of the 9 Merlin-1D engines on the first stage (replacing the square pattern of engines in v1.0). SpaceX notes that the Falcon 9 v1.1 is cheaper to manufacture, and longer than v1.0.