On a foggy Tuesday morning at Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX sent its Falcon Heavy, the most powerful operational rocket in the world, back into the sky for the first time in roughly forty months. Its two classified payloads for the US Space Force were bound for geostationary orbit, the kind of distant perch where military and communications satellites have long hung above the Earth. The delay had less to do with the machine itself than with the patient, often frustrating business of getting payloads ready and finding customers willing to wait, and that quiet truth says as much about spaceflight
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Returns After 40 Months, Lands Both Side Boosters in Fog-Shrouded Florida Launch
One more landing than launches this year: 51 against 50.
Mark
Why does a fog-covered launch matter so much?
Mimi
The fog is just the scene. What matters is that the rocket flew on time, delivered two Space Force payloads, and brought both side boosters back to land together.
Mark
It's been 40 months since the last Falcon Heavy. Was something wrong with the rocket?
Mimi
Not according to the reporting. The delays came mostly from payloads not being ready, plus some lack of demand.
Luke
Worth noting that's the reporting's characterization. It names USSF-44, USSF-52 and Psyche as delayed, but it doesn't detail each payload's specific problems.
Mark
And the future cadence? Eight to 10 flights through 2024?
Mimi
That's the expectation, including Europa Clipper in October 2024, a $4 billion NASA spacecraft.
Luke
Keep in mind it's a projection, and this very rocket has slipped before because of payload readiness. It isn't a schedule anyone has locked in.
Mark
What about the 50 launches and 51 landings?
Mimi
Reuse is the engine behind it. It took nearly eight years to reach 50 Falcon 9 launches, and this year alone has hit 50.
Luke
And we don't know what the classified payloads are, so we can't judge the mission beyond the rocket's performance. The geostationary injection was still ahead at the time of writing.
Le Pouls
- Fog hung over Kennedy Space Center, yet the Falcon Heavy still lifted off on schedule at 9:41 am ET, roaring past three years of waiting.
- After a 40-month silence, the rocket's return carried two classified Space Force payloads that could not yet be seen or discussed publicly.
- Both side boosters separated, fired engines twice, and touched down side by side a few kilometers from the pad, while the center core was lost.
- The upper stage's Merlin engine must still perform two burns to place the payloads in geostationary orbit, and that final step is what remains uncertain.
- With eight to ten flights expected by 2024, including NASA's Europa Clipper, the rocket's pace is set to accelerate toward a busy, high-stakes horizon.
On a foggy Tuesday morning at Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX sent its Falcon Heavy, the most powerful operational rocket in the world, back into the sky for the first time in roughly forty months. Its two classified payloads for the US Space Force were bound for geostationary orbit, the kind of distant perch where military and communications satellites have long hung above the Earth. The delay had less to do with the machine itself than with the patient, often frustrating business of getting payloads ready and finding customers willing to wait, and that quiet truth says as much about spaceflight as any roaring liftoff. In the larger story, this flight marks a return to heavy lift and a hint of how reusable rockets may reshape the rhythm of access to space.
Fog sat thick over Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday morning, hiding much of the liftoff of the most powerful operational rocket in the world. The Falcon Heavy left the pad at 9:41 am ET and climbed steadily along the Florida coast, its first flight since June 2019.
A few minutes in, the two side boosters peeled away from the center core and came back to Earth. They fired a subset of their engines twice and landed side by side a few kilometers from where they had launched. The center core was not recovered. The upper stage carried two classified payloads for the US Space Force, which would later be placed directly into geostationary orbit.
The long gap was not caused by rocket trouble. The USSF-44 mission had been set for December 2020, USSF-52 for October 2021, and NASA's Psyche was delayed because its payload was not ready. Demand was thin, but payload readiness was the bigger obstacle.
More flights are now expected, perhaps eight to ten by the end of 2024, including NASA's $4 billion Europa Clipper. This was also SpaceX's 50th launch of the year and its 51st landing, as the reused boosters will fly again on USSF-67 in January.
A thick fog sat over Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday morning, and it mostly hid the liftoff of the most powerful operational rocket in the world. The Falcon Heavy left the pad on schedule at 9:41 am ET and climbed steadily along the Florida coast toward orbit.
A few minutes into the flight, the two side boosters separated from the center core. Each is a slightly modified Falcon 9. They fell back toward Earth, fired a subset of their nine engines twice, and landed side by side a few kilometers from where they had launched. The center core was not recovered.
It was only the fourth Falcon Heavy launch, and the first stage did its job. It delivered the upper stage and two payloads for the US Space Force into orbit. Both payloads are classified. Later on Tuesday, the upper stage's Merlin vacuum engine was to perform two burns and then inject the payloads directly into geostationary orbit.
The gap before this flight was long. The Falcon Heavy had not flown since June 2019, a pause of about 40 months. Part of the reason was thin demand, but mostly it was payload readiness. The USSF-44 mission that flew Tuesday was originally scheduled for December 2020. Another Space Force mission, USSF-52, was meant to fly in October 2021. NASA's Psyche asteroid mission was supposed to launch in September of this year but was also delayed because its payload was not ready.
With this mission done, the rocket's pace should pick up considerably. As many as eight to 10 flights could occur between now and the end of 2024. Among them are high-profile government missions, notably NASA's $4 billion Europa Clipper spacecraft, due to launch in October 2024. The Department of Defense and NASA are both entrusting some of their most valuable payloads to a complex and relatively new rocket that debuted in 2018.
The launch also marked a milestone for the company. It was SpaceX's 50th launch of the year, a rate of one orbital launch every 6.08 days. By comparison, it took the company nearly eight years, from 2010 to 2018, to launch its first 50 Falcon 9 rockets.
Much of that higher cadence comes from reusing first stages. The two side-booster landings were the 150th and 151st successful first-stage landings of all time. Because both side boosters came back, SpaceX now has one more landing than launches this year: 51 landings against 50 launches.
SpaceX will refurbish the two side boosters and fly them again on the military's next Falcon Heavy mission, USSF-67, in January.
Citations marquantes
As many as eight to 10 Falcon Heavy flights could occur between now and the end of 2024, including NASA's Europa Clipper.— Ars Technica reporting
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