Falcon Heavy launch date set! Feb. 6th at 1:30 PM EST

Elon Musk announced yesterday that the Falcon Heavy could launch as soon as February 6th.  A tentative three hour launch window was set for 1:30 PM EST.

I've been waiting years for this - and I know I'm not alone!

Mark you calendars and tune in to the live launch at the SpaceX Webcast page.

Check out this this spaceflightnow.com post for more details.

Falcon Heavy is launching soon. Here's some info about this historic launch.

There is plenty of information available about the Falcon Heavy.  But here are a few for my friends that get their SpaceX news from me instead of the dozens of space related sites (as well as the SpaceX Falcon Heavy page).

• Falcon Heavy is comprised of 3 Falcon 9 rockets.  
• It will be the most powerful rocket ever launched.  
• The most powerful rocket since the Saturn V, which took us to the Moon.  
• It will be over twice as powerful as any rocket currently flying (the Saturn V was retired in the early 70's).

The first "demo" launch will also be historic.

• SpaceX will attempt to recover all three boosters: two will return to the SpaceX landing site near the lauch pad, and the center booster will attempt to land on the autonomous "drone" ship "Of course I still Love you".
• It will be the first time a private company has launched a spacecraft beyond Earth's orbit.
• It will be launching from the same historic launch pad that the Saturn V Apollo missions launched from.
• The payload will be Elon Musk's personal Tesla roadster. 

And why launch a car into orbit around the Sun?
First, because something had to simulate a payload (dummy weight is usually used).

But mostly it seems it's because Elon Musk thinks it would be cool -- and it's his rocket, and his car, so...

But Tesla or not, a successful mission would provide valuable data for future Mars missions.

So, in addition to flight testing a new rocket configuration, the mission - if successful - will also be a tangible step towards landing on Mars, which has been the company's stated mission from the beginning.

But as Elon Musk said himself, is may also end in a big fireball.  "Some things can't be tested" without launching them.  There is a lot that could go wrong in something this complex.

But when?
Who knows.  There have been delays in the critical testing that leads up to a launch.   And these have been exasperated by the recent (and potential future) government shutdown as explained here.
So there is no official launch date, but the end of January is getting close, so we could it slip into February.

UPDATE: The hold-down firing of the rocket could occur tomorrow, with a tentative schedule between 2 PM and 6 PM EST (1700-2300 GMT).  This assumes the fueling and countdown rehearsal that precedes it goes according to plan.

Falcon Heavy complete and vertical on the launch pad

The long awaited first flight of the Falcon Heavy nears, as evidenced by this photo from the spacefilghtnow.com site.  SpaceX has had to postpone the Falcon Heavy test flight many times is the past due to other priorities as well as technical difficulties.

This picture shows the Falcon Heavy as it was brought vertical on the historic Kennedy Space Center pad 39A for a short time on Thursday December 27, 2018.

SpaceX engineers conducted several tests leading to an anticipated test firing of all 27 of its engines.  This will be followed by a launch "sometime in January".  Expect some incredible video, regardless of what happens!

Here are some details for those of you that aren't familiar with this rocket.  From the article where this photo comes from.  And straight from SpaceX itself.


As for me, I've been waiting years for this.

Last SpaceX mission has some of the best video yet.

The broadcast of the recent CRS-13 mission provided some of the best mission video I've seen.  Clear, daytime launch yielded some spectacular video of the launch and landing of the Falcon 9 first stage.
You can watch the replay here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPHbqY9LHCs

Here is a quick reference of where some of the highlights occur, for those of you in a hurry.

16:50 - Close shot of the Falcon 9 rocket
18:30 - Stage separation - An external shot, not the typical shot from inside the second stage
Followed by the boost back burn (the camera following the first stage).
19:10 - The protective nose cover jettisoned from Dragon shoots past
21:10 - Cape Canaveral comes into view from the first stage camera
The next 30 seconds show the reentry with one very short video drop
23:15 - First stage landing burn starts, detail of the landing zone becomes clear
26:00 - Dragon separates.  Great video of Dragon heading away from the second stage, detail of dragon’s trunk with the earth filling the upper portion of the frame
26:40 - Dragon still visible with good detail

Additionally a great, almost continuous, external landing video was produced.  It can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6RPfXSRww4

SpaceX to cap busiest year with CRS-13 launch tomorrow [UPDATE: Launch delayed until 12/13]

Update: Today's scheduled launch has been delayed until tomorrow, December 13th, in order to perform additional ground system checks.

SpaceX is scheduled to launch the latest International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission tomorrow, carrying nearly two and a half tons of cargo the ISS.  This launch will be the 17th this year (if I haven't lost track), and is remarkable in that it will be reusing both the Dragon capsule and the Falcon 9 rocket.  The capsule previously visited the ISS in April 2015, while the Falcon 9 is a newer model launched in June of this year.

The launch also marks the return of operations to SLC-40, which has been out of commission since September 2015, when an accident during a static fire test knocked it out of commission.  This will in turn free up LC-39A allowing preparations to continue for the first Falcon Heavy launch, which the company hopes to launch next month.

The launch is schedule for December 12th at 11:46 EST, with a backup window on December 13th at the same time.