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THRUST VECTOR CONTROL
Falcon 9 Octaweb TVC
Mass
350 kg
Dimensions
Integrated into engine mount structure
Material
Inconel 718 gimbal bearings, hydraulic steel actuators
First Use
Sep 29, 2013
Usage Statistics
300
Successful Uses
99%
Success Rate
How It Works
Electro-hydraulic actuators gimbal each Merlin engine on a ball joint, enabling precision attitude control during boost, boostback burn, entry burn, and landing burn phases.
Key Specifications
Gimbal rangeu00b15u00b0
Actuator typeElectro-hydraulic
Response time<100 ms
Engines gimbaled9 (boost) / 1-3 (landing)
Compatible Vehicles
Falcon 9 Block 5
Details
The Falcon 9 Octaweb Thrust Vector Control system gimbals the nine Merlin 1D engines during first-stage boost and the single center engine during boostback and landing burns. Hydraulic actuators provide up to 5 degrees of gimbal in any direction, enabling the booster to steer itself back to the landing zone after stage separation.
External Links
