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SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch is reportedly set for February 6th

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Re: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch is reportedly set for February 6th

#3

Post by mabbo »

Considering the number of delays, push-backs and holds on this rocket, don't be surprised if it doesn't. And that's okay- once a rocket is more than a meter off the ground, it's either going to space or exploding, so caution is the right trait to have.

All that said, I'll still be watching live whenever it happens. If they pull this off, it'll open up a lot of new possibilities for the space industry.

Re: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch is reportedly set for February 6th

#6

Post by mikeash »

kilroy123 wrote: post #4

Can't wait to watch this one. It will be absolutely amazing to watch 3 boosters come back down to earth and all land. Even if they don't all land this time, they will one day.

At this point, the landings seem like one of the least likely things to go wrong. Which is pretty amazing.

Re: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch is reportedly set for February 6th

#8

Post by anovikov »

mabbo wrote: post #3

Considering the number of delays, push-backs and holds on this rocket, don't be surprised if it doesn't. And that's okay- once a rocket is more than a meter off the ground, it's either going to space or exploding, so caution is the right trait to have. All that said, I'll still be watching live whenever it happens. If they pull this off, it'll open up a lot of new possibilities for the space industry.

Which new possibilities? BFR definitely will; FH seems to be just an incremental improvement: D-IVH level of capability combined with reusability, on a much cheaper price - but nothing which would enable doing something which wasn't done before.

Re: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch is reportedly set for February 6th

#9

Post by mactunes »

anovikov wrote: post #8
mabbo wrote: post #3

Considering the number of delays, push-backs and holds on this rocket, don't be surprised if it doesn't. And that's okay- once a rocket is more than a meter off the ground, it's either going to space or exploding, so caution is the right trait to have. All that said, I'll still be watching live whenever it happens. If they pull this off, it'll open up a lot of new possibilities for the space industry.

Which new possibilities? BFR definitely will; FH seems to be just an incremental improvement: D-IVH level of capability combined with reusability, on a much cheaper price - but nothing which would enable doing something which wasn't done before.

Doesn't it have much higer payload to LEO and GTO though? It's much more than D-IVH payload if Wikipedia is to be believed:

FH: 63800kg LEO, 26700kg GTO

D-IVH: 28790kg LEO, 14220kg GTO

The Falcon 9 actually comes closer to the D-IVH in expendable mode than the D-IVH comes to the Falcon Heavy.

Re: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch is reportedly set for February 6th

#10

Post by mabbo »

anovikov wrote: post #8
mabbo wrote: post #3

Considering the number of delays, push-backs and holds on this rocket, don't be surprised if it doesn't. And that's okay- once a rocket is more than a meter off the ground, it's either going to space or exploding, so caution is the right trait to have. All that said, I'll still be watching live whenever it happens. If they pull this off, it'll open up a lot of new possibilities for the space industry.

Which new possibilities? BFR definitely will; FH seems to be just an incremental improvement: D-IVH level of capability combined with reusability, on a much cheaper price - but nothing which would enable doing something which wasn't done before.

I mostly mean around the price point. A large portion of the cost of the ISS was launching it- $450m per Space Shuttle launch, dozens of launches to get all the components up.

If we wanted to replace the ISS today (or double it's size), the FH could bring the price point down considerably.

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