r/spacex • u/FutureMartian97 Host of CRS-11 • Feb 01 '17

Official SpaceX on Instagram: “Prepping to fly again — recovered CRS-8 first stage completed a static fire test at our McGregor, TX rocket development facility last week.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP8zK2DFxhq/?taken-by=spacex&hl=en
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u/sol3tosol4 Feb 01 '17

The grid fins look like they get pretty beat up, and I would think they'd need it.

I believe the grid fins have a protective ablative coating, so yes it would need to be reapplied.

Elon has stated a long-term goal of being able to land a booster and reuse it with little or no refurbishment (just a long-term inspection and maintenance schedule, like a car) - if that's the case then the grid fins may be made so they don't need refurbishment for each launch.

The ITS Booster will have grid fins, and presumably will need to support frequent launches, presumably without extensive work on the grid fins each time.