On Tuesday, Feb. 6th at 3:45 PM ET, Falcon Heavy successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Hawthorne, California, USA - February 07, 2018

On Tuesday, Feb. 6th at 3:45 PM ET, Falcon Heavy successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two, with the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb) - a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Falcon Heavy's first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit.

You can watch a replay of the test flight below, as well as a replay of the live view of Starman in orbit.

http://www.spacex.com/news/2018/02/07/falcon-heavy-test-launch  

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission

SpaceX is targeting launch of the Falcon Heavy demonstration mission on Tuesday, February 6 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

The primary launch window opens at 1:30 p.m. EST, or 18:30 UTC, and closes at 4:00 p.m. EST, or 21:00 UTC.

A backup launch window opens on Wednesday, February 7 at 1:30 p.m. EST, or 18:30 UTC, and closes at 4:00 p.m. EST, or 21:00 UTC.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

When Falcon Heavy lifts off, it will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two, with the ability to lift more than twice the payload of the next vehicle, at one-third the cost.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit.

Three cores make up the first stage of Falcon Heavy.

The side cores, or boosters, are connected to the center core at its base and at the vehicle’s interstage.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

With a total of 27 Merlin engines, Falcon Heavy’s three cores are capable of generating more than 5 million pounds of thrust.

For this test flight, Falcon Heavy’s two side cores are both flight-proven.

One launched the Thaicom 8 satellite in May 2016 and the other supported the CRS-9 mission in July 2016.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

SpaceX will attempt to land all three of Falcon Heavy’s first stage cores during this test.

Following booster separation, Falcon Heavy’s two side cores will attempt to land at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Falcon Heavy’s center core will attempt to land on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The payload for Falcon Heavy’s demonstration mission is SpaceX CEO and Lead Designer Elon Musk’s midnight-cherry Tesla Roadster.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Demonstration missions like this one typically carry steel or concrete blocks as mass simulators, but SpaceX decided it would be more worthwhile to launch something fun and without irreplaceable sentimental value: a red Roadster for the red planet.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Following launch, Falcon Heavy’s second stage will attempt to place the Roadster into a precessing Earth-Mars elliptical orbit around the sun.

It’s important to remember that this mission is a test flight.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Even if we do not complete all of the experimental milestones that are being attempted during this test, we will still be gathering critical data throughout the mission.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Ultimately, a successful demonstration mission will be measured by the quality of information we can gather to improve the launch vehicle for our existing and future customers.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Launch Facility

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Built to support the Apollo program in the 1960s, LC-39A supported many of the Apollo missions, including the first Saturn V launch (Apollo 4), and Apollo 11, which sent the first humans to the surface of the moon.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

In 2014, SpaceX signed a 20-year lease with NASA for the use of LC-39A.
Since then, the company has made significant upgrades to modernize the pad’s structures and ground systems, while also preserving its important heritage.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Extensive modifications to LC-39A have been made to support launches of both the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

BFR Overview

On September 29th, 2017, SpaceX CEO and Lead Designer Elon Musk presented an updated vehicle design for what’s currently being referred to as BFR.

A key challenge with the original vehicle design was figuring out how to pay for it.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

The updated design solves this problem by leveraging a slightly smaller vehicle that can service all greater Earth orbit needs as well as the Moon and Mars.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

This single system - one booster and one ship - will eventually replace Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

By creating a single system that can service a variety of markets, SpaceX can redirect resources from Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon to the BFR system - which is fundamental in making BFR affordable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAkmP00QPJg&feature=youtu.be  

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Mars Entry and Landing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF5-AHaBxkE&feature=youtu.be  

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

BFR - Earth to Earth

The BFR will be capable of taking people from any city to any other city on Earth in under one hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqE-ultsWt0  

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

About SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft.

The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

SpaceX is a private company founded in 2002 by CEO and Lead Designer Elon Musk.

Elon Musk is the founder, CEO and lead designer at Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), where he oversees the development and manufacturing of advanced rockets and spacecraft for missions to and beyond Earth orbit.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Founded in 2002, SpaceX’s mission is to enable humans to become a spacefaring civilization and a multi-planet species by building a self-sustaining city on Mars.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

In 2008, SpaceX’s Falcon 1 became the first privately developed liquid-fuel launch vehicle to orbit the Earth.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Following that milestone, NASA awarded SpaceX with contracts to carry cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS).

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

A global leader in commercial launch services, SpaceX is the first commercial provider to launch and recover a spacecraft from orbit, attach a commercial spacecraft to the ISS and successfully land an orbital-class rocket booster.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

By pioneering the development of fully and rapidly reusable rockets and spacecraft, SpaceX is dramatically reducing the cost of access to space, the first step in making life on Mars a reality in our lifetime.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

SpaceX has more than 5,000 employees at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California; launch facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; a rocket-development facility in McGregor, Texas; and offices in Houston, Texas; Chantilly, Virginia; and Washington, DC.

SpaceX has suppliers in all 50 states.

Elon Musk, CEO and Lead Designer, SpaceX. Photo courtesy of SpaceX

“You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great - and that's what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. It's about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can't think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.”
- Elon Musk, CEO and Lead Designer, SpaceX.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Elon Musk is also the co-founder, CEO and product architect of Tesla, which makes electric cars, giant batteries and solar products.

He is the co-founder and chairman of OpenAI, a nonprofit research company working to build safe artificial intelligence and ensure that AI's benefits are as widely and evenly distributed as possible.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Previously, Elon co-founded and sold PayPal, the world's leading Internet payment system, and Zip2, one of the first internet maps and directions services, which helped bring major publishers, including the New York Times and Hearst, online.

Photo courtesy of SpaceX

Source: SpaceX

http://www.spacex.com/news  

http://www.spacex.com/mars  



ASTROMAN Magazine - 2018.02.02

NASA: Celebrating 60 Years of Groundbreaking U.S. Space Science

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2435  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2018.02.02

NASA: Studying the Van Allen Belts 60 Years After America’s First Spacecraft

http://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2434  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.10.04

Lockheed Martin Completes First Flexible Solar Array for LM 2100 Satellite

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2352  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.08.24

Airbus' Solar Orbiter on track to launch before next total solar eclipse

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2319  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.08.12

Lockheed Martin Successfully Integrates First Modernized A2100 Satellite

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2311  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.06.04

Airbus: First high power all-electric satellite, EUTELSAT 172B, launched by Ariane

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2268  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.06.03

Boeing Satellite for ViaSat to Significantly Enhance Satellite Broadband Communications

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2267  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.04.07

European Space Agency:  Exoplanet mission  gets ticket to ride

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2226  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.03.31

SpaceX conducts historic Falcon 9 re-flight with SES-10 Mission. Lands booster again

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2223  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.02.10

European Space Agency: CryoSat reveals lake outbursts beneath Antarctic ice

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2192  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.02.07

NASA Highlights Science Launching on Next SpaceX Cargo Mission

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2190  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2016.12.03

Part-Time Scientists and Audi lunar quattro ready to head for the Moon

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2165  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2016.09.11

Airbus Defence and Space's PerúSAT-1 satellite ready for take-off

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2118  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2016.08.14

UAE Space Agency, Mubadala and Lockheed Martin Launch Comprehensive Space-based Workforce Development Program

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2105  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2016.04.09

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will launch the CRS-8 Dragon Spacecraft Mission for NASA

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2053  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2015.10.02

Flight VA226 success: with Sky Muster and ARSAT-2 in orbit, Arianespace serves Australia and Argentina

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1972  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2015.07.26

Airbus Defence and Space to build JUICE spacecraft, ESA's next life-tracker inside the Solar System

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1941  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2015.07.18

Boeing's 10th GPS IIF to Modernize Worldwide GPS System

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1940  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2015.06.14

Boeing to Build Third All-Electric Propulsion Satellite for ABS to Australia, New Zealand,  the Middle East,  Russia, South Asia

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1929  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.10.18

Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Successfully Completes 3rd Flight

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1812  


ASTROMAN Magazine – 2014.08.16

Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services Successfully Launches WorldView-3 Satellite

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1775  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.05.17

6th Boeing GPS IIF Spacecraft Reaches Orbit, Sends 1st Signals

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1714  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.02.22

5th Boeing GPS IIF Spacecraft Sends Initial Signals from Space

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1659