Falcon Heavy Is About To Launch The Heaviest Satellite In History
After a long time without launches, in the last 8 months or so 3 Falcon Heavys have lifted off. At the same time, even more missions are planned this year, the next, and beyond. Right now also represents a unique time within the space industry as a lot of primary launch providers are without a rocket. Whether it’s because of delays, unexpected issues, or just planning, there are only a few available launch providers right now.
Fortunately for SpaceX, they are one of those companies with both the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy continuing to fly. In only a few weeks from now, we could watch the Falcon Heavy lift off with a record-setting payload. Currently, the mission is scheduled for late July from Launch Complex 39A and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. While this date could change with upcoming crew missions, it will launch soon.
Officially, this mission will carry the heaviest satellite even sent into Geostationary orbit. Weighing 9,200kg (20,300lb) this payload beats the record by quite a bit and will need the performance of the Falcon Heavy. Here I will go more in-depth into this launch, the Falcon Heavy’s busy schedule, what to expect in the coming weeks, and more.
Record Launch
All the way back in 2017, Space Systems/Loral (SSL) announced that it had been selected by Hughes Network Systems, LLC. This wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation was picked to build the Jupiter 3 / EchoStar transformational Ultra High Density Satellite (UHDS).
Jupiter 3/EchoStar is a large, multi-spot beam Ka-band satellite based on the highly reliable SSL-1300 space-proven platform, which provides the flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technology advances. It features an entirely new architecture based on a broad range of technology advances including the miniaturization of electronics, solid state amplifiers, and more efficient antenna designs allowing 500 Gbps throughput. SSL has patented 18 technology advances that were incorporated into the spacecraft design, enabling it to provide highly concentrated capacity in critical areas.
Earlier estimates thought that the satellite would weigh around 5,800 kg (~12,825 lb) at liftoff. This has since changed by almost double to become the heaviest ever. In July 2018, SpaceX reached a new milestone, breaking the record for the heaviest commercial geostationary satellite launch in history when it took the 7076-kilogram (15,600 lb) Telstar 19V to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).
What’s interesting is that this launch will still be quite far from what the Falcon Heavy is capable of payload-wise. The max weight Falcon Heavy can carry to GTO is 26,700 kg / 58,860 lb. This is more than double the weight of this record payload. Granted, you also have to consider whether or not the rocket is launching in an expendable configuration of reusing the three boosters.
Just months ago in May, for example, Falcon Heavy was originally slated to launch the Viasat-2 satellite, but due to delays an Ariane 5 launch vehicle was used instead. Viasat maintained the launch option and delivered its next Ka-band satellite aboard the Falcon Heavy – this one intended to provide service to the Americas region. Following a series of MVac engine burns and long periods of coasting, the upper stage of Falcon Heavy deployed the satellite into a near-geosynchronous orbit at approximately T+4:32:27. The upper stage went on to successfully deploy the additional payloads, G-Space 1 and Arcturus. The second stage had a gray band for the same reason as on the USSF-44 flight.
This was the first Falcon Heavy launch to expend all three first stage cores. In other words, not a single booster featured grid fins or even landing legs, and instead was lost to increase launch performance. The other option is expanding just the center core and reusing the side boosters to give a partial increase in performance. This exact mission profile occurred during the USSF-67 launch. A feature we could see on this upcoming mission depending on the exact end weight and destination within GTO.
As far as the launch date, we haven’t heard an official time from SpaceX however the company was aiming for late this month. This being said, the upcoming Crew-7 mission could push it back if it ends up getting priority. The Crew mission is scheduled for them middle of August. On the other hand, some sources say the launch will be on July 24th, only a few days away.
A Busy Future
Once this mission is complete, SpaceX will start preparing for the next. With the upcoming mission included, there are still 3 Falcon Heavy launches scheduled this year alone, with another 10 plus in the coming years. After Jupiter 3, Falcon Heavy will launch the 2.6 t (5,700 lb) Psyche orbiter mission into a heliocentric orbit. From there, the Psyche spacecraft will visit the Psyche asteroid in the main asteroid belt. This mission is set to happen in a few months in October. Next in November, Falcon Heavy will launch another classified mission with the US Space Force for USSF-52.
Moving on to next year, NASA awarded SpaceX launch services contract for the geostationary GOES-U weather satellite. This mission will happen early in the year around April. Later that year is the long-awaited Europa Clipper launch. Europa Clipper will conduct a detailed survey of Europa and use a sophisticated suite of science instruments to investigate whether the icy moon has conditions suitable for life. Key mission objectives are to produce high-resolution images of Europa’s surface, determine its composition, look for signs of recent or ongoing geological activity, measure the thickness of the moon’s icy shell, search for subsurface lakes, and determine the depth and salinity of Europa’s ocean. The mission will fly past Mars and Earth before arriving at Jupiter in April 2030. You then have another 3 missions scheduled in 2024 and more in the following years.
This future for the rocket is a stark difference from the past. In June 2019, Falcon Heavy lifted off one more time with a military satellite on top for the United States Department of Defense. Between June 2019 and November 2022, there was not a single Falcon Heavy mission.
One of the main reasons for this was the success of the Falcon 9. After developing the Falcon 9 SpaceX worked to improve and increase the launch vehicle’s performance. At the same time, when developing Falcon Heavy, the company wasn’t exactly sure what the Falcon 9 would be capable of. SpaceX was so successful that the Falcon 9 became a lot more powerful than expected. So powerful that a lot of planned missions for Falcon Heavy ended up getting moved to the Falcon 9 which was cheaper. In this case, different commercial companies needing a ride to low Earth orbit for example simply didn’t require the significant payload capacity that the Falcon Heavy offered. Instead, they opted for a less expensive ride on the Falcon 9. SpaceX sells Falcon 9 missions for close to $67 million, whereas a standard Heavy flight goes for around $97 million.
Another reason had to do with a lack of demand. The area where Falcon Heavy really shines is heavy satellites meant for distant orbits. This specific mission profile narrows down the options significantly and mostly includes military launches. Between 2019 and 2022, the need for such a powerful rocket was simply limited. Delays also caused this stretch of no launches to continue. Several planned Falcon Heavy launches were pushed back due to issues with their satellites. USSF-44 for example was originally supposed to lift off in late 2020, but payload problems scuttled that plan. This launch only recently took place on the rocket’s long awaited return. In addition, there are a few competitors that offer comparable capabilities including Arianespace’s Ariane 5 and United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy, which both launched within that time period.
Lastly, around the time of Falcon Heavy development and lack of launches, SpaceX was ramping up work on Starship. It seems as if the company had a lot of plans but was unsure exactly what each project would be capable of and when. This packed full schedule and various options likely contributed to the lack of launches for various other reasons as well. Even though all this information sounds somewhat grim for the company and rocket, in the grand scheme of things they have had a lot of success with Falcon Heavy and made a notable amount of money. For example, a year after the successful demo flight, SpaceX had signed five commercial contracts worth US$500–750 million, meaning that it had managed to cover the development cost of the rocket. SpaceX was also awarded 40% of the launches in Phase 2 of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contracts, which includes several launches and a vertical integration facility and development of a larger fairing, from 2024-2027.
Now in 2023, the rocket is in the middle of its busiest year ever. Not to mention, with fewer launch vehicles available, the demand is only going up for reliable rockets that are ready to launch various satellites to a host of unique orbits. SpaceX will likely capitalize on this shortage of options and sign more customers for both Falcon Heavy and the Falcon 9. Something to keep an eye on in the coming months.
Conclusion
SpaceX and the Falcon Heavy are about to launch a record payload on the Falcon Heavy. This mission has been a long time in the making and should happen in only a few weeks from now. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.