The Falcon Heavy Will Soon Launch Once Again
The Falcon Heavy is easily one of the most unique and fascinating operational launch vehicles in the world right now. Not only is it one of the most powerful, but it’s also very cost-effective. This is thanks to reusing not one, but all three boosters on the rocket. However, while the Falcon Heavy has a long list of unique features, it has not been launched in years. Fortunately, this is set to change in a big way very soon from now.
The Falcon Heavy’s last launch was in the middle of 2019. Now in 2022, there are multiple launches scheduled for the heavy-lift launch vehicle only months away. Specifically, the closest launch is USSF-44 expected to lift off in only a few months this summer. This is in addition to even more launches planned later this same year. If all goes according to plan, we will once again see the Falcon Heavy take off more than once this year.
No matter what rocket you are working on, it involves a complex, and time-consuming process to not only develop, but manufacture, test, and finally launch. The Falcon Heavy has had a very interesting and unique development and launch background. While it has not been in use in recent years, it still has a lot to offer the space industry. Here I will go more in-depth into the Falcon Heavy’s upcoming launches, past success, and why it has been so long since we last saw it launch.
Falcon Heavy Background
While this is likely to change not long from now, the Falcon Heavy has the highest operational payload capacity out of any launch vehicle in use today. However, despite its unique power capabilities and cost, it has been multiple years since its last launch. The first Falcon Heavy launch was around 4 years ago in February of 2018. This was the launch vehicle’s demonstration flight and was viewed as a massive success for SpaceX and Falcon Heavy. The payload was the infamous Tesla Roadster which was sent into space with a dummy human in the driver seat. As intended, soon after launch both of the side boosters landed safely on land at almost the exact same time. Unfortunately, the center core which was intended to land on a drone ship was unsuccessful. Despite this slight failure the launch had shocked the space industry and provided confidence in this next generation heavy-lift launch vehicle.
A bit over a year later, in April of 2019, the Falcon Heavy lifted off once again for its second-ever flight. This mission was the first time the rocket carried an actual customer payload on the top which was a heavy communications satellite purchased by the Arab League. In this mission not only was the payload successfully delivered but all three boosters landed safely after launch. The center core however was once again lost this time not during the landing but during the transport back to land.
The last and most recent Falcon Heavy launch occurred only months after the second launch in June of 2019. This specific mission supported the U.S. Air Force National Security Space Launch certification process for the Falcon Heavy. The original contract price was US$165 million, which was later reduced, in big part due to the military’s agreement to fly the mission with reused side boosters. With so much available payload capacity, this mission also launched some other secondary payloads. This included a large list of additional satellites and general payloads headed for space. This mission was a big deal as the Falcon Heavy reused the boosters from the previous flight for the first time. Once again the side boosters successfully landed however the core stage was destroyed after impacting the Atlantic Ocean.
Upcoming Launches
I just did a quick overview of the Falcon Heavy’s launch history which highlights many things including the fact that it has been very long since the last mission. Thankfully, this is set to change in only a few months. The first and closest mission I want to highlight is for the U.S. Space Force. Specifically, this mission consists of a Falcon Heavy launching a classified payload sometime this summer, likely June or even May. This marks the first classified flight of Falcon Heavy. The contract was originally awarded to SpaceX for a price of under 30% of that of a typical Delta IV Heavy launch (US$440 million). The payload includes two separate satellites and at least two additional rideshare payloads (including TETRA-1) and will weigh roughly 3.7 tons or 8,200 pounds at launch. The payloads will be launched in a direct geosynchronous orbit, necessitating for the first time a planned partially expendable launch, that is, to deliberately expend the center core which lacks grid fins and landing gear needed for a landing, while the two side boosters will be targeting a simultaneous recovering on drone ships A Shortfall of Gravitas and Just Read The Instructions. This mission is extremely unique for many reasons. As I just mentioned, due to the payload destination, the attempted landing of the three boosters will be very different than your typical Falcon Heavy launch. While the core stage will be lost, both side boosters will attempt to land at sea on two different drone ships. This has never been attempted before by SpaceX and will be very exciting to watch. The price of this mission is around $130 million as a portion of a larger contract signed with SpaceX. This mission was originally scheduled for Q1 2022, but it has been pushed to May for 39A availability and payload issues. This is in addition to a second classified flight with Falcon Heavy and the U.S. Space Force scheduled for quarter 2 of this year.
The next launch expected to happen this year has to do with Viasat. The Falcon Heavy was originally slated to launch the Viasat-2 satellite, but due to delays among other things, an Ariane 5 launch vehicle was used instead. Viasat maintained the launch option over time and will launch its next Ka-band satellite, which will serve either the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or the American regions, using Falcon Heavy. The upper stage of Falcon Heavy is expected to deploy the satellite into a near-geosynchronous orbit that will include a coasting stage several hours long between burns. Arcturus was added as an independent secondary payload in late September 2021. This is another launch we could see not long from now with the Falcon Heavy assuming everything goes according to plan.
Lastly, there are two more possible Falcon Heavy launches we could see happen this year. The first is with NASA apart of the Discovery Program. In August of this year, the Falcon Heavy will launch the 2.6 ton (5,700 lb) Psyche orbiter mission into a heliocentric orbit aiming for a Mars-gravity assist. From there, the Psyche spacecraft will visit the Psyche asteroid in the main asteroid belt. Not only this but the mission will carry a secondary payload named Janus, which will study small, binary, near-Earth asteroids. It’s estimated that this mission cost around $117 million. Finally, there is one more expected Falcon Heavy launch this year once again with the U.S. Space Force. For the price of $317 million, in quarter 3 of 2022, a Falcon Heavy will launch a classified payload. Specifically, this marks the first SpaceX launch of Phase 2 USAF contract, likely to be on a Falcon Heavy, and likely requiring a vertical integration building and an increased fairing size. It will use three new boosters, with the center core in an expendable configuration (no grid fins or landing gear), while the two side boosters will be targeting a simultaneous landing on drone ships, JRTI and ASOG as the mission requirements are similar as of USSF-44 mission. Similar to some of the other launches there is a lot that could change regarding dates and the plan.
Why So Few Launches?
Now that I have highlighted some of the upcoming missions with the Falcon Heavy and the long break it’s had, it brings up the question of why the launch vehicle has had so few launches in the last few years. There are many factors that could have impacted this but I want to highlight a few I find most convincing. The first has to do with the success of the Falcon 9. After developing the Falcon 9 SpaceX worked to improve and increase the launch vehicle’s performance. SpaceX was so successful that the Falcon 9 became a lot more powerful than expected. So powerful that a lot of planned missions for the Falcon Heavy ended up getting moved to the Falcon 9. This along with the work and shift to Starship, pushed a lot of the opportunities away for Falcon Heavy. Leading to multiple years without a single launch.
Conclusion
The Falcon Heavy is a fascinating and exciting launch vehicle. As of right now it’s one of the most powerful in the world and offers unique capabilities thanks to its power along with partial reusability. However, despite these special features, it has been years since the last time it launched. Fortunately, this is changing very soon with multiple launches planned for later this year. We will have to wait and see what happens in the near future and the impact it has on the space industry.