SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Video Shows Off The World's Most Powerful Rocket

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Video Shows Off The World's Most Powerful Rocket


Later this year the private space company SpaceX will launch the Falcon Heavy, a rocket twice as powerful as any other operational craft in the world.

It’s so large that the thrust of the rocket at takeoff is equal to 18 Boeing 747s taking off at once.

Now Elon Musk’s company has unveiled a full vision of how the rocket will work - and it’s pretty spectacular.

The rocket will launch using three nine-engine boosters, and in total will stand 224.4 feet tall. After the boosters separate from the rocket, they will attempt to land back on a launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

However that last bit may prove to be a little tricky - SpaceX’s recent attempt to land a Falcon 9 rocket on an ocean platform failed after it ran out of stabilisation fuel on its way back to Earth.

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Wow three booster re-usable!!! Damn!!

Very nice. Is 4th detached unit also reusable?

graphican said:

Very nice. Is 4th detached unit also reusable?

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I don't think so. It may even be floating space junk.

The manned capsules can land.

Civilians can always do more eith less as compare to government.

Luca1 said:

Civilians can always do more eith less as compare to government.

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Certainly when it comes to innovation the private sector seems to lead the way.

is there any information on how much money the company would be able to save due to reusable boosters?

Guess it's time to privatize space in India too.

The video really reminds me of I.G.I 2.

SpaceX is a very successful company. Can't believe how a private organisation came this far in the space industry.

Azeri440 said:

is there any information on how much money the company would be able to save due to reusable boosters?

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SpaceX just made rocket launches affordable. Here’s how it could make them downright cheap. – Quartz

"Until now, most commercial operations contracted with Russia’s space agency in Kazakhstan or Europe’s space agency, which launches from South America. Depending on a number of factors, mostly the size and weight of payload, the cost of a single launch ranges from $100 million to $260 million.

The cost of the Falcon 9 rocket alone is $54 million, SpaceX tells Quartz, but it only burns $200,000 worth of fuel. If each rocket were reusable, and the only costs to launch a satellite were fuel and various ground support services, that would dramatically reduce the cost of getting to space."

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What this really means is "hello Mars!!!".
Use multiple rocket launches to put up the pieces of a Mars spacecraft. Send a few more up with just the fuel. Instant interplanetary mission.

SpaceX Could Soon Be Launching Military Spy Satellites - Popular Mechanics

Slowly but surely, change is coming to military space launches, as the monopoly that has cornered the market may be about to give way.

Since 2006, the United Launch Alliance — a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing — has been the only provider sending national security satellites into orbit. But Elon Musk's SpaceX, in the midst of sending cargo to the International Space Station for NASA, is trying to get into the military launch business. SpaceX is now 80 percent of the way through the Air Force certification process. Once it completes that process—which should happen by the middle of this year, the Air Force said—then it's game on. Let the best launcher win.

We've covered the first skirmishes of this new struggle, including ULA's attempt to revive Cape Canaveral and SpaceX's lawsuit filed after a slate of contracts were awarded to ULA before SpaceX could even bid on them. So who will win as the young upstart and the experienced monolith go head-to-head?

SpaceX is starting at a disadvantage, as the certification process was supposed to be finished last year. The delays have frustrated the company, which may lose out on National Reconnaissance Office contracts because of the delays. SpaceX’s go-fast ethos is at odds with the plodding, cautious approach of the U.S. Air Force.

We're talking about launching communication and surveillance satellites that are critical to national security, so the caution is understandable. But there may be more to SpaceX's lawsuit than sour grapes. Last week USAF Secretary Deborah Lee James said an independent team will look at assessing ways to "streamline and improve" the certification process.

Meanwhile, ULA has not stood pat as the SpaceX competition grows. They are looking at ways to reduce costs, since the Air Force's new willingness to change procedures could make launches cheaper. Even so, new ULA CEO Tory Bruno, a vice president of Strategic and Missile Defense Systems at Lockheed Martin, has his work cut out for him. SpaceX is marketing launches at a price that's four times cheaper than ULA offers.

The next thing to look for is the NRO contracts. If they are released before SpaceX's mid-year certification, then you could expect another lawsuit from Musk's shop, crying foul at the awarding of these launch contracts to ULA, the only certified launcher bidding. But keep an eye on the reliability of SpaceX's launches for NASA. Any problem with the Falcon rocket or its engines could cast doubt on that vehicle's ability to conduct national security launches.

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SpaceX's cheaper reusable launch system is going to usher in a new era of heavyweight spy satellites.

America should consider itself lucky to have someone like Elon Musk.
I don't think that Europe with Arianespace stands much of a chance against SpaceX.
And even Russia & China could lose their low-price advantage, if they haven't already.

Luca1 said:

Civilians can always do more eith less as compare to government.

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thats why the Internet was invented by steve jobs, ohh nope it wasnt. It was invented by the US government against Russia

SenLin said:

America should consider itself lucky to have someone like Elon Musk.
I don't think that Europe with Arianespace stands much of a chance against SpaceX.
And even Russia & China could lose their low-price advantage, if they haven't already.

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thats why they fail every month

Peter C said:

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lol your own graph shows why your rocket is inefficient, you need 3 rockets to have more Power while proton-m is one rocket and has almost half the lb-. And your rocket is over twice the weight

senheiser said:

thats why they fail every month

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That's Orbital Sciences Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ....yet another private company building rockets. There are a few others for example like Scaled Composites - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

senheiser said:

lol your own graph shows why your rocket is inefficient, you need 3 rockets to have more Power while proton-m is one rocket and has almost half the lb-. And your rocket is over twice the weight

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It comes back to earth with a powered landing (no parachutes)...watch the video. It needs fuel for that. The efficiency is about re-usability...not payload to weight ratios.

Peter C said:

Certainly when it comes to innovation the private sector seems to lead the way.

View attachment 188551

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Private corporations don't need to bend to the whim of governmental preference and/or requirements and is free to do whatever they seem fit. A lot of space-related innovation emerge from these companies since they're vying for a portion of the market yet untouched by major state-funded contractors.