Merlin 1C Merlin (rocket engine family)

three versions of merlin 1c engine produced. merlin engine falcon 1 had movable turbopump exhaust assembly used provide roll control vectoring exhaust. merlin 1c engine falcon 9 first stage identical variant used falcon 1, although turbopump exhaust assembly not movable. finally, merlin 1c vacuum variant used on falcon 9 second stage. engine differs falcon 9 first stage variant in uses larger exhaust nozzle optimized vacuum operation , can throttled between 60 , 100 percent.

the merlin 1c uses regeneratively cooled nozzle , combustion chamber. turbopump used merlin 1b model slight alterations. fired full mission duty firing of 170 seconds in november 2007, first flew on mission in august 2008, powered first privately-developed liquid-fueled rocket reach orbit , falcon 1 flight 4, in september 2008, , powered falcon 9 on maiden flight in june 2010.

as configured use on falcon 1 vehicles, merlin 1c had sea level thrust of 350 kn (78,000 lbf), vacuum thrust of 400 kn (90,000 lbf) , vacuum specific impulse of 304 seconds. in configuration, engine consumed 140 kg (300 lb) of propellant per second. tests have been conducted single merlin 1c engine running total of 27 minutes (counting duration of various tests), equals ten complete falcon 1 flights. merlin 1c chamber , nozzle cooled regeneratively 45 kilograms (100 lb) per second of kerosene flow , able absorb 10 megawatts (13,000 hp) of thermal heat energy.

a merlin 1c first used part of unsuccessful third attempt launch falcon 1. in discussing failure, elon musk noted, flight of our first stage, new merlin 1c engine used in falcon 9, picture perfect. merlin 1c used in successful fourth flight of falcon 1 on september 28, 2008.

on october 7, 2012, merlin 1c (engine no. 1) of crs-1 mission experienced anomaly @ t+00:01:20 appears on crs-1 launch video flash. failure occurred vehicle achieved max-q (maximum aerodynamic pressure). spacex s internal review found engine shut down after sudden pressure loss , aerodynamic shell destroyed, generating debris seen in video; engine did not explode, spacex ground control continued receive data throughout flight. primary mission unaffected anomaly due nominal operation of remaining 8 engines , onboard readjustment of flight trajectory, secondary mission payload failed achieve orbit due safety protocols in place prevent collisions iss.

spacex planning develop 560 kn version of merlin 1c used in falcon 9 block ii , falcon 1e boosters. engine , these booster models dropped in favor of more advanced merlin 1d engine , longer falcon 9 v1.1 booster.