Most rockets can’t be reused because they undergo such incredible stresses during launch, flight, and reentry that greatly damage or destroy key components.
Following are some of the main reasons:
- Extreme Forces during Launch and Reentry
High Temperatures: Energy developed by friction and air resistance when a rocket is launched and has gained speed through the atmosphere can be extreme. On reentry, even greater temperatures arise, often reaching more than 1,500°C, or 2,700°F. Many rockets are not designed to handle thermal protection for reentry; thus, they burn up or are damaged beyond recoverability.
High Speeds and G-forces: Heavy stress on the rockets is caused by the forces of acceleration and deceleration. It needs immense structural parts to bear huge forces, or G-forces, which often cause wear, deformation, or even outright failure. - Material Fatigue and Damage
Exhaust Plume Damage: The extremely hot exhaust thrown off by the rocket engines degrades nozzles and other engine components. Materials sometimes will be too fatigued or damaged to fly after one use.
Structural Integrity: Lightweight materials, such as aluminum and composites, are used to reduce the overall weight of the rockets. After the launch, though, they do not retain their full strength, which may mean the rocket would not be structurally sound for recovery. 3. Cost of Recovery and Refurbishment
Retrieval Logistics: It is logistically difficult and expensive to recover rocket stages from the ocean. Not often, but sometimes, parts of a rocket do survive entry; however, recovering them in good enough condition to allow refurbishment is difficult.
Cost of Repair: Refurbishing a used rocket to ensure it could fly safely again requires extensive inspection, replacement of damaged parts, and re-certification. In most instances, this process can be more expensive than building an altogether new rocket. - Lack of Reusability Technology
Precision landing is required for safe landing back. Until now, rockets did not possess guidance and control systems and the use of propulsion techniques that would safely return them to Earth. Only in recent decades were inventions such as grid fins, retro-propulsion, and reusable heat shields developed.
Single-Use Design: Conventional rockets are never designed to recover any of the major components such as engines, fuel tanks, and structural components of a rocket after a flight. In contrast, recoverable rockets must be built more robustly, which increases their upfront cost and complexity. 6. Fuel Efficiency and Weight Penalties
Fuel Reserves for Reuse: This approach necessitates reusable rockets, such as the Falcon 9 from SpaceX, to use additional fuel during their descents to slow down and safely return to Earth, at the cost of reducing their overall payload. One-way rockets do not carry this additional fuel, maximizing their potential in carrying a large payload.
Weight and Design Trade-offs: The reusability of a rocket is normally accomplished by bringing in landing legs, additional fuel tanks, and heat shields with it; these add mass and therefore may reduce the performance or payload capacity compared to their expendable cousins. Examples of Progress Toward Reusability SpaceX: This company’s Falcon 9 rocket represents a revolution in the industry, being capable of recovery of the first stage in multiple launches. This feature has been made possible by landing legs, a guided-descent system, and a rigorous refurbishment process, which constitute the major strength of this prospect for future missions.
Blue Origin: New Shepard by Blue Origin is designed for reusability, capable of multiple launches and landings purely vertically. NASA’s Space Shuttle Program: Although it could be reused, it had to undergo very expensive and time-consuming refurbishment after each and every flight, making it less cost-effective.
To put it briefly, though developments in technology today make reuse in rockets possible, the overwhelming majority of rockets that have been and are in use were designed never to be recovered due to extreme operational stresses, logistic challenges of recovery, and prohibitive costs of refurbishment.
