This project is part of the IBM Data Science Certification program.
The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and satellite communications company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and to colonize Mars. The company manufactures the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Starship heavy-lift launch vehicles, the Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon spacecrafts, the Starlink mega-constellation satellite and rocket engines.
SpaceX offers commercial satellite-based internet service via its constellation of Starlink satellites, which became the largest-ever satellite constellation in January 2020 and as of December 2022 comprised more than 3,300 small satellites in orbit.
In this capstone, we will predict if the Falcon 9 first stage will land successfully. SpaceX advertises Falcon 9 rocket launches on its website, with a cost of 62 million dollars; other providers cost upward of 165 million dollars each, much of the savings is because SpaceX can reuse the first stage. Therefore if we can determine if the first stage will land, we can determine the cost of a launch. This information can be used if an alternate company wants to bid against SpaceX for a rocket launch.
To predict if the Falcon 9 first stage will land successfully.
- How do variables such as payload mass, launch site, number of flights, and orbits affect the success of the first stage landing?
- Does the rate of successful landings increase over time?
- What is the best model that can be used for predicting a successful landing?