For the first time in over a year, we will get to see a rocket in the sky. The U.S. Space Force has ordered a ride with the heavy-lift launch vehicle, but the details of the defense mission are not clear.
According to Next Spaceflight, the Falcon Heavy is going to launch on October 28. On Wednesday, the same pad was used to launch the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station, but now it will be used for the upcoming launch of the Falcon Heavy. There is no launch time given.
The two U.S. Space Force payloads will be deployed to theGEO. The mission was supposed to blast off in the late 2020s, but was delayed due to a number of issues. According to Space Force, the first National Security Space mission will be USSF 44. Next Spaceflight points out that this will be the first mission for the company.
The larger of the two USSF-44 payloads is known. Millennium Space Systems is a division of Boeing. The Space Force commissioned a prototype GEO satellite for testing procedures and tactics that will inform the development of future satellites. Millennium Space says that the prototype will be above the surface.
According to Spaceflight Now, the combined weight of the two satellites is expected to be around 8,200 pounds. The need for the company's medium-lift Falcon 9 is different to the need for the company's heavy lift Falcon Heavy.
The most powerful operational lift vehicle is Falcon Heavy. More than five million pounds of thrust is generated by the rocket at liftoff and it can deliver 141,000 pounds of cargo to low Earthorbit. The original plan was for Falcon Heavy to carry humans to space, but now it's the responsibility of the Starship rocket.
Two side boosters and a new center core will be included in the Falcon Heavy. New components are not an advantage as flight-proven boosters are being seen as a bonus in terms of reliability. The center core will not be recovered because the two boosters will attempt vertical landings.
The Falcon Heavy was the first vehicle to deliver a car to space. The second and third launches took place in April and June.
This heavy-lift vehicle is about to get busy, but it has been done for. Upcoming launches include Space Force's USSF-67 and NASA's Psyche probe, as well as the Jupiter 3 commercial broadband satellite.
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