The Kennedy Space Center in Florida should actually experience two space missions in one day. Today, just after midnight local time, the Falcon 9 rocket headed into space with the next batch of Starlink Internet satellites, and then shortly before midnight, the Hughes JUPITER 3 mission is scheduled to arrive. Only for the seventh time in history, the 12.2-meter-wide and 70 meter high super-powerful Falcon Heavy rocket, whose engines create more than 5 million pounds of thrust at launch. That is approximately as much as the engines of 18 Boeing 747 aircraft combined.
Early birds will be able to watch the mission live on Saturday starting at 5:04 a.m., which will feature the landing of two stages of side rockets. And that right in the mentioned center in Florida. Visibility will be a question, otherwise it will certainly be a breathtaking spectacle, due to the night time in the place. It can be added that the central stage of the Falcon rocket will be “thrown away” this time, i.e. it will end up in the waters of the Atlantic. To summarize, the Falcon Heavy actually consists of three Falcon 9 rockets, with the central one being “reinforced”. This is traditionally new, the aforementioned sidekicks will provide their services for the third time.
For SpaceX, this is a commercial order from the US companies
EchoStar Corporation, which offers clients satellite communications, including Internet services. In short, the Falcon Heavy is supposed to take the manufactured JUPITER 3 telecommunications satellite into space by the company Maxar. And according to available information, it came to 400 million USD. It should cover North and South America and allow a data flow of 500 GB/s. The total weight of the payload is 9.2 tonnes, making it the heaviest commercial payload ever to enter geostationary orbit.
For SpaceX, even in the case of Falcon Heavy, it was starting to be business as usual, when it was possible to record a 3-year break. With its first launch in 2018, Musk brought the Falcon Heavy into the public consciousness thanks to the cargo of his Roadster electric car, which headed its way to Mars, that is, through space. In the following year, 2 missions followed, but then there was a “calm”. It was not until last November that another mission was launched, and in January and May of this year, additional satellites were launched.
Also read: Musk’s red Roadster went into space 5 years ago. Where is he now?
The frequency of launches of “regular” Falcon rockets can already be compared to the timetable of village buses. In total, they have completed 241 of them. The aforementioned launch of Starlink satellites on Friday was already the 50th round mission this year alone!
Falcon Heavy schedule
As already mentioned, the launch of the Falcon Heavy should take place at 5:04 a.m. our time, with a possible launch window of 99 minutes in case of any problems. If the start would be prevented for example weather (however favorable is expected – partly cloudy 27 degrees), an identical starting window is available exactly one day later.
It can be mentioned that the entire colossus goes through the maximum mechanical load 69 seconds after the start. After 144 seconds, the side engines complete their function, or it subsequently separates and heads for its controlled journey back to earth. It actually returns less than 7.5 minutes after the start. The journey of the entire load will then take longer, or the launch of the satellite will take place almost 3.5 hours after launch.
SpaceX should start the live broadcast about 15 minutes before the launch, you can watch it below as well as from the recording
Jiří Zendulka
Jiří Zendulka has been involved in finance since the days of coupon privatization, so for 30 years. He worked in various positions at stockbrokers, in order to establish himself as an analyst. He has been presenting his views in the media for a long time. A follower of the traditional values of capitalism, or on the contrary, a critic of most non-standard interventions in economies by governments and central banks.
2023-07-28 13:27:29
#watching #live #Musks #SpaceX #send #giant #Falcon #Heavy #space #night #addition #heaviest #load #date
