I vaguely remember Musk talking about reflective paint for some band on the landing pad of Falcon, a long time ago.
> At the most precise, an RTK positioning system could lower position accuracy all the way down to 2.5 cm (+1cm per km of distance). If SpaceX put a receiver on the launch tower or the ocean buoys, then the landing position could be incredibly accurate. But even the most advance positioning tech won’t guarantee it down to 0.5 cm. And RTK does rely on being able to acquire and maintain a link between the booster and ground for this precision.
I don't understand this last sentence. Afaik RTK correction only requires receiving correction frames on the booster's side, which can be distributed via l-band just like GPS. I suspect the latency constraints are also quite low as the conditions aren't going to change quickly near the tower with the kind of good weather they choose for launch.
> At the most precise, an RTK positioning system could lower position accuracy all the way down to 2.5 cm (+1cm per km of distance). If SpaceX put a receiver on the launch tower or the ocean buoys, then the landing position could be incredibly accurate. But even the most advance positioning tech won’t guarantee it down to 0.5 cm. And RTK does rely on being able to acquire and maintain a link between the booster and ground for this precision.
I don't understand this last sentence. Afaik RTK correction only requires receiving correction frames on the booster's side, which can be distributed via l-band just like GPS. I suspect the latency constraints are also quite low as the conditions aren't going to change quickly near the tower with the kind of good weather they choose for launch.