Questions tagged [falcon-heavy]

SpaceX's heavy lift launcher, based on the Falcon 9, using two strap-on boosters with a center core.

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Falcon Heavy launch to landing time

We are going to see the first launch of the Falcon Heavy in person February 6th 2018. What is the expected time from initial launch to landing of the two strap on boosters nearby?
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Why does the Falcon Heavy Rocket have a higher payload than the Space Shuttle?

The Falcon 9 heavy rocket has a thrust of about 5,340,000 pounds (23700 kN) with a LEO payload of 140,660 pounds (65.7 t). The Space Shuttle, on the other hand, had a thrust of 6,780,000 pounds (30000 ...
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Is the Falcon Heavy as loud as the Space Shuttle or Saturn V?

Is the Falcon Heavy Rocket as loud as the older Saturn V and Space Shuttles? I have read that Saturn V and the Space Shuttle were within a few decibels of each other. The newer Shuttle was slightly ...
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Could an Orion Spacecraft launch from a Falcon Heavy? [duplicate]

The cost of an SLS launch is significantly more expensive then a Falcon Heavy. Could an Orion spacecraft be mated to the Falcon Heavy to save launch costs?
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Falcon Heavy path and propulsion to Mars

Has SpaceX provided any details on their specific plans for the trajectory of the Falcon Heavy payload propulsion on its trip out as far as Mars orbit? I'm wondering if they have made public whether ...
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Can the launch of Falcon Heavy be seen well from the Rocket Garden?

Is any viewing of the falcon heavy launch visible from the $75 rocket garden ticket? Just trying to decide if it would be worth the money.
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Can I drive Elon Musk's Tesla after it's been in space for 100 Years?

We know that the the payload of the maiden Falcon Heavy flight will be... Elon Musks's Tesla Which will be placed in "Mars Orbit" Assuming it is serviced and road ready when launched with the keys in ...
James Jenkins's user avatar
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How can Elon Musk's Tesla actually reach Mars orbit?

So the payload of the maiden Falcon Heavy flight will be... Elon Musks's Tesla This is one part publicity stunt (it's going to be playing David Bowie's Space Oddity, if for nothing more than the ...
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What are these yellow devices attached to the Falcon Heavy?

I was looking at the pictures of the newly rolled out Falcon Heavy and I noticed these odd yellow extensions on the payload faring. What are they?
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What secondary payloads, if any, are launching on the inaugural flight of Falcon Heavy?

Overshadowed by a silly, yet awesome primary payload — 'a cool colored cool electric sports car playing a cool track' on to a heliocentric orbit, are there other satellites/secondary payload Falcon ...
Kuldeep Barad's user avatar
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Why was the falcon heavy already on the pad?

Why would the falcon heavy sit on the launch pad if it is not yet ready to be launched? Wouldn't this just make it susceptible to damage to inclement weather and possible (although not probable due ...
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Why are the Falcon Heavy boosters stacked in a row instead of a triangle?

I wonder if triangle stack would be a better design to handle thrust and stability of the flight. Photo source (public domain).
mal's user avatar
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Has any payload been as silly, as the Falcon Heavy's Tesla Roadster?

Seemingly as a joke, Elon Musk suggested in a tweet that the first payload of Falcon Heavy demo flight would be his Midnight Cherry Tesla Roadster. The first payload of Falcon 9 with a Dragon test ...
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What if an engine fails to ignite on Falcon Heavy?

The Falcon Heavy has 27 engines (Suck on it N-1!) in three sets of 9 (per core booster). SpaceX initially suggested they might need a couple of static fires to nail down the ignition sequence, since ...
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Do they assemble the Falcon Heavy on the TEL?

The Falcon 9 stages, by themselves, are usually stored on rotisserie style mounts, that allow the stage to be rotated and worked on easily. That is, if the engineer needs access to the top, instead ...
geoffc's user avatar
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On the Falcon Heavy, why are the side boosters using Ti Grid fins, but not the center core?

Elon Musk showed a picture of the almost ready to fly Falcon Heavy in the HIF (Horizontal Integration Facility, aka rocket barn). You can see the darker, larger grid fins on the side cores, and the ...
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Will the Falcon Heavy make the first full fairing reuse ever?

The two side boosters will need some kind of aerodynamic protection, which could very much be recovered with the rocket in one piece. Will they be recovered and reused?
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Is a Falcon Semi-Heavy plausible?

Some rockets use strap-on boosters to match the payload requirements, even sometimes launching with only one strap on. Is this a plausible scenario for Falcon to be strapped together with only one ...
Antzi's user avatar
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How long would a Falcon Heavy last in orbit around Mars before degrading?

Elon Musk made another characteristic splash recently with his plan to launch a Falcon Heavy into orbit around Mars, with the bonus payload of his personal Tesla Roadster inside. Of course, it's an ...
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Falcon 9 design: Why is the cargo fairing so much wider than the lower parts?

Why does the cargo fairing have a much larger diameter than the lower part of the rocket? Of course a larger diameter lets thicker payloads fit. But then the first, inter, and second stage could have ...
Everyday Astronaut's user avatar
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What will the Falcon Heavy maiden flight launch as its payload?

I know that Elon Musk has stated that SpaceX will try to launch the "silliest thing imaginable" on the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy, but will it be a Dragon capsule on top or a special SpaceX ...
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Why can Falcon Heavy bring 4.2 times as much mass to Mars than F9, but only 2.7 times as much to LEO?

In Wikipedia's article SpaceX Falcon-Heavy the section titled Capabilities has a table comparing maximum payload masses to Falcon 9 for different payload destination. The current numbers there are ...
uhoh's user avatar
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Why is the development of the Falcon Heavy difficult, when two of three cores are reused?

Elon Musk said that the integration of the Falcon Heavy was "shockingly difficult". I can absolutely believe that. But at the same time, SpaceX is reusing two "flight proven" boosters for the Heavy. ...
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Does the Falcon Heavy also use a helium system?

The Falcon 9 uses a helium system to pressurize the tanks. Does the Heavy first stage also use helium? How big would the explosion be in case of a failure assuming the boosters would go too?
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How can the same upper stage be optimal on a common core booster as well as on a single booster?

Bundling three or five first stage cores together improves the launch capacity a great deal. But Delta, Falcon and Angara are supposed to use the same upper stage in their multiple common core ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
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Does SpaceX plan to repair SLC-40?

SpaceX just used 39A for CRS-10. Do they have any plans to repair SLC-40 from the September anomaly? The Boca Chica launch center should be ready in 2018, so will they solely use 39A and Boca Chica?
Jake Blocker's user avatar
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Which are the reasons that Falcon Heavy first flight has so many delays?

SpaceX company has many months and now becoming years pushing the launch date for the first Falcon Heavy. Yeah right space rocketry is tricky and very difficult, it's important that everything should ...
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Why does a Falcon Heavy cost more with a heavier payload?

While trying to find the priceof a Falcon Heavy launch, I noticed the following: \$90M (<8.0mT), [\$130M (>8.0mT)] Why is there a $40 million difference in price for the heavier payload? Also, ...
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Ballpark comparison of a hypothetical Falcon 'Quad' Heavy with cross feeds

This engineering question got me wondering. If cross feed technology were sufficiently developed, and stresses could be managed (these are big if's, and there are more I'm sure), how would these ...
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What would the challenges be in developing a Falcon Heavy with three or four strap-on boosters?

Falcon Heavy has a standard Falcon 9 Full Thrust (FT) rocket core with two strap-on boosters derived from the Falcon 9 FT first stage. What about a heavier Falcon Heavy with four strap-on boosters (or ...
Mark777's user avatar
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Will F9H's middle core receive more than max damage?

After partaking in a GTO delivery, the successful re-entry and landing of a Falcon 9 booster was described by Elon Musk as follows: Most recent rocket took max damage, due to v high entry velocity. ...
Adám's user avatar
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Is the Falcon Heavy booster much simpler to land than the Falcon 9 first stage?

Given the fact that the Boosters of the Falcon Heavy will separate much earlier during ascent (and hence at much lower speeds), there should be a notable difference in the complexity (and thus chance ...
choeger's user avatar
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What makes SLS (Space Launch System) \$10 Billion (or \$36 Billion) project?

The SLS development budget is \$18 billion (currently \$10 billion are spent for SLS rocket), although another site shows even \$35B. If I am not mistaken SLS is a new & improved version of ...
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Why does SpaceX's Launch Complex 1 have four contingency landing pads?

An additional four 150 feet (46 m) diameter pads are planned to support the simultaneous recovery of additional boosters of the Falcon Heavy. on Cape Canaveral SpaceX landing Complex/Zone 1 wiki....
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1 answer
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How many 1st stage boosters will SpaceX settle for, for its LEO/GTO fleet?

It’s common knowledge that SpaceX goal is to create a fleet of spacecraft shuttling from Earth to Mars. One milestone they intend to achieve beforehand is having a fleet of 1st stage boosters ...
y2k's user avatar
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2 answers
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Could a Delta 4 Heavier be built?

The Delta 4 vehicle is a common booster core (CBC) design, where a single booster design can be used to launch in single stick mode, or in triple stick (Heavy) mode. The single stick model also has ...
geoffc's user avatar
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Is it possible the Falcon Heavy Demo flight could be done with three previously flown boosters?

Thanks to their now recently official reusability capability, and after looking at the SpaceX flight manifest that showcases at least five new v1.1 FT before the Demo, it made me ponder: By the time ...
y2k's user avatar
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Second powerful Falcon Heavy for Mars, most powerful Saturn V for Moon?

The Apollo spacecraft, launched by Saturn V, the most powerful rocket ever build, could only take 3 man to the Moon. But how can SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, second to Saturn, take seven crew to Mars on a ...
Shawn's user avatar
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3 answers
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What is the new horizontal test stand at SpaceX's McGregor, TX facility meant to test?

If you look on Google Maps, at the McGregor, TX test site, you can see the old test stand (Labelled A) where they test each Falcon 9 first stage for a 9 engine fire as an acceptance test before ...
geoffc's user avatar
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Falcon Heavy first stage abilities

If you made a '2nd stage to orbit and return' vehicle capable of sitting atop the reusable Falcon Heavy 1st stage, how heavy could it be, and to what height and speed could the 1st stage push it in a ...
Andrew Thompson's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
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Falcon 9R as SSTO

Seeing as the Falcon 9R first stage is close to being reusable, could it be the basis for an SSTO rocket? In other words, does it have enough performance to make it into orbit, and then boost back and ...
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Why is there only a small difference between Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch prices? [duplicate]

SpaceX's website says that a Falcon 9 launch costs 61 million while a Falcon Heavy launch 85 million. Considering that the Falcon Heavy is almost three times bigger than the Falcon 9, I don't ...
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Could current (+SLS+FH) launchers use much larger diameter payload fairings?

Can launchers reasonably be equipped with wider payload fairings in order to carry larger (not heavier) payload? What would be the main problems with doing so, air resistance during the early slow ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
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Questions regarding Falcon Heavy's crossfeed system

My understanding of the Falcon Heavy cross feed system is that the outer cores feed six of the nine engines directly on the center core. Thus, the cross feeds don't pump propellent and oxidizer into ...
Erik's user avatar
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What makes Falcon Heavy with 3 booster 4 times more capable than single booster F9?

Falcon Heavy is expected to take 4 times more mass to LEO than Falcon 9 (53 instead of 13 tons). Are bigger rockets generally about 4/3 times more capable per fuel mass and engine thrust? It doesn't ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
17 votes
3 answers
8k views

Why is there so little price difference between the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy?

A Falcon 9 costs 61.2M dollars. A Falcon Heavy (1 Falcon 9 + 2 boosters) costs 85M dollars. That means 1 booster of the Falcon Heavy costs only 11.9M dollars. So, why does a Falcon 9 (9 Merlin 1D + ...
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Energy use of Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM)?

In the ARRM feasibility Study Table 4, parameters of four different options (three different launchers and different trajectories) are gathered. What would be the total energy use of a mission like ...
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What missions could be done with Orion on Falcon Heavy?

Orion is being developed in tandem with the SLS. But Falcon Heavy is scheduled to fly earlier, early 2015, and be cheaper. So I wonder what kind of missions Orion could do with FH. Could it for ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
4k views

What is the planned date for the Falcon Heavy Demo launch from Vandenberg AFB?

According to Wikipedia and SpaceX, this demo flight is scheduled for 2014. A group of us from San Diego want to come and watch the launch from a distance. Is there any scheduled date for the launch? ...
medos's user avatar
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What are the consequences of Vertical vs Horizontal integration for SpaceX?

One of the issues the Air Force has with using SpaceX as a launch provider is that their payloads are designed for vertical integration. That is, the booster stands on the pad upright, and the ...
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