SpaceX F9 - Anasis II - SLC-40

[ICUDoc]

6 million saved, and my uneducated guess is that the fairings require much less rehabilitation before being used again than, say, a giant rocket booster does?

 

[Nikxice]

Nice trifecta landing sequence executed by SpaceX, 7/20/20. Easy date to remember, the anniversary of Apollo 11's historic lunar landing. Even after 51 years, single-engine rocket landings are still pretty exciting.

A general overview of SpaceX's fairing recovery operation as described by spacexfleet.com,
"The recovery method eventually chosen by SpaceX was to equip fairings with thrusters and a steerable parafoil to control and slow the descent after jettison. A ship, equipped with a sizeable net, would then attempt to position itself underneath the falling fairing and catch it before it hits the ocean surface."
Fairing Recovery - SpaceXFleet.com

 

[ecarfan]

It’s been known for several months now that the fairing chutes are steerable. If they weren’t. It would be impossible to catch them with a ship because ships cannot be turned, sped up, or slowed down, quickly. Even a relatively small ship like the Go Searcher is not very maneuverable. A non-steerable chute is at the mercy of the air currents which can change dramatically with altitude, and the huge size of the fairing means winds can alter its trajectory significantly. What SpaceX has accomplished by catching the fairings is some impressive engineering!

Then again, this article says "a GPS-equipped, steerable parachute (called a "parafoil") will deploy approximately 5 miles (8 km) above the water."

Meet Mr. Steven, SpaceX's Rocket Nose-Cone-Catching Boat | Space

So what do I know? I would be interesting to know how they are steered.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

6 million saved, and my uneducated guess is that the fairings require much less rehabilitation before being used again than, say, a giant rocket booster does?

Well, some amount less than 6 million saved.
The fairing pieces have thrusters and steerable parafoils, they're caught/recovered by two ships and they might need a little touch-up.

 

[bxr140]

There's also incremental cost for those reusable enablers that cuts into the initial price, plus the capacity impact from flying more rocket mass. Both are pretty small compared to the recurring savings, but...line items on the trade all the same.

Of course, the Ruag fairings that most other heavies use are probably more expensive than the reusable F9 fairings even after SpaceX racks in refurbishment cost, so...