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by jessriedel 4810 days ago
> The very next Falcon 9 flight (out of Vandenberg) will use the performance overhead provided by the v1.1 upgrade to do a controlled reentry of the 1st stage and then after it has reached terminal velocity it will slow down to a hover out over some remote part of the ocean, then splash down. This is a good and cheap test of a huge part of the flight profile.

Could you explain the first part a bit more, or point me somewhere? How was is the first stage going? Does it need a heat shield?

EDIT: Ha, looks like a lot of people had the same question at the same time.

1 comments

The first stage of almost any launch system wouldn't need a heat shield for reentry. The second stage absolutely would.
Any idea how fast it's going when the first stage separates?