Falcon Heavy

Falcon Heavy is a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle designed and made by SpaceX. It is inspired from the Falcon 9 vehicle. This increases the low Earth orbit (LEO) maximum payload to 63,800 kilograms (140,700 pounds), compared to 22,800 kilograms (50,300 pounds) for a Falcon 9 Full Thrust, 28,790 kilograms (63,470 pounds) for Delta IV Heavy, 27,500 kilograms (60,600 pounds) for the Space Shuttle and 140,000 kilograms (310,000 pounds) for Saturn V. Falcon Heavy is the world's fourth-highest capacity rocket ever built, after Saturn V, Energia and N1, and the most powerful rocket in operation as of 2020.^[7] SpaceX conducted Falcon Heavy's first launch on February 6, 2018, at 3:45 p.m. EST (20:45 UTC).^[8][9] The rocket carried a Tesla Roadster belonging to SpaceX founder Elon Musk as a dummy payload into a path around the sun.^[10][11] The first commercial launch was on 11 April 2019, for Arabsat.^[12] It was a success.

Falcon Heavy
heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle made by SpaceX
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center LC-39A with the Arabsat-6A satellite (April 2019).
Has use	Orbital heavy-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Country of origin	United States
Cost per launch	Reusable: $90M[1] Expendable: $150M[2]
Size
Height	70 m (230 ft)[3]
Diameter	3.66 m (12.0 ft)[3]
Width	12.2 m (40 ft)[3]
Mass	1,420,788 kg (3,132,301 lb)[3]
Stages	2+
Capacity
Payload to LEO (28.5°)
Mass	63,800 kg (140,700 lb)[3]
Payload to GTO (27°)
Mass	26,700 kg (58,900 lb)[3]
Payload to Mars
Mass	16,800 kg (37,000 lb)[3]
Payload to Pluto
Mass	3,500 kg (7,700 lb)[3]
Associated rockets
Family	Falcon 9
Comparable	Delta IV Heavy Long March 5 New Glenn Saturn C-3 Vulcan
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Kennedy LC-39A
Total launches	3
Success(es)	3
Landings	7 cores landed / 9 attempted
First flight	February 6, 2018
Boosters
No. boosters	2
Height	70 metre
Diameter	3.66 metre
Width	12.2 metre
Powered by	9 Merlin 1D per booster
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 7.6 MN (1,700,000 lbf) (each) Vacuum: 8.2 MN (1,800,000 lbf) (each)
Total thrust	Sea level: 15.2 MN (3,400,000 lbf) Vacuum: 16.4 MN (3,700,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	Sea level: 282 seconds[4] Vacuum: 311 seconds[5]
Burn time	154 seconds
Propellant	Subcooled LOX / Chilled RP-1[6]
First stage
Height	70 metre
Diameter	3.66 metre
Width	12.2 metre
Powered by	9 Merlin 1D
Maximum thrust	Sea level: 7.6 MN (1,700,000 lbf) Vacuum: 8.2 MN (1,800,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	Sea level: 282 seconds Vacuum: 311 seconds
Burn time	187 seconds
Propellant	Subcooled LOX / Chilled RP-1
Second stage
Height	70 metre
Diameter	3.66 metre
Width	12.2 metre
Powered by	1 Merlin 1D Vacuum
Maximum thrust	934 kN (210,000 lbf)[3]
Specific impulse	348 seconds[3]
Burn time	397 seconds[3]
Propellant	LOX / RP-1

Falcon Heavy was designed to carry humans into space, for example to the Moon and Mars, although as of February 2018, it is not certified and there are no plans to use it for crewed missions. It will instead be devoted to launching large satellites or space probes.^[13] Falcon Heavy would be replaced by Starship.

Related pages

• Falcon 9