I wonder how the math works out for expending an old core vs launching a fully recovered FH. Additional cost of the FH side boosters and recovery fleet ops, vs the opportunity cost of lost future launch income from that core - future maintenance.
If I recall correctly, they’ve not had great success with this in the past. The booster either came in too hot or fell off the droneship on the way home. If you try and fail to recover the centre core, you might as well have just expended a single-stick Falcon 9.
I wonder how the math works out for expending an old core vs launching a fully recovered FH. Additional cost of the FH side boosters and recovery fleet ops, vs the opportunity cost of lost future launch income from that core - future maintenance.
If I recall correctly, they’ve not had great success with this in the past. The booster either came in too hot or fell off the droneship on the way home. If you try and fail to recover the centre core, you might as well have just expended a single-stick Falcon 9.