Falcon Heavy - General Discussion

[Grendal]

Falcon Heavy has a conundrum. It's designed to carry very heavy satellites but satellite companies were previously limited to what could be carried into space which is smaller. The FH changes those rules with its much larger payload capabilities but then the satellite companies need to respond and build larger satellites. It's an interesting dilemma.

"If you build it they will come."

 

[HVM]

Interesting they talk about 'twice the power' of the next nearest rocket in this context because the press release then goes on to say 12 metric tonnes to GTO. Boeing Delta IV Heavy can put 13.2 tonnes into GTO (without using fossil fuels too).

Now there are GTOs and there are GTOs, but SpaceX marketing would surely use the best comparison.

There's bit update of that figure:

 

[rabar10]

Thanks for the updated screenshot. Based on the two price options for Heavy, Looks like they are differentiating between cross-feed vs. no cross-feed, and/or reusing all three first stage pieces vs. only the outer two.

 

[claytorj]

Thanks for the updated screenshot. Based on the two price options for Heavy, Looks like they are differentiating between cross-feed vs. no cross-feed, and/or reusing all three first stage pieces vs. only the outer two.

Hmmm. I thought maybe the difference in price was because if they sell half their capacity for half the price for one satellite, they could then double up the launch with a second satellite the same size, and they end up making the same revenue on the launch that they would if they sold a dedicated launch (full price)? Or is that too simple?

 

[clmason]

Falcon Heavy has a conundrum. It's designed to carry very heavy satellites but satellite companies were previously limited to what could be carried into space which is smaller. The FH changes those rules with its much larger payload capabilities but then the satellite companies need to respond and build larger satellites. It's an interesting dilemma.

"If you build it they will come."

Or they can use FH to throw something beyond GTO. Like a manned craft to the moon and mars.

 

[CCT]

There's bit update of that figure:
View attachment 40468

That's 10 Model Ss!

 

[HVM]

That's 10 Model Ss!

There is a thread in NSF forum; what would be the mass simulator for the FH-demo flight. I am pretty sure it's not that

 

[chickensevil]

Falcon Heavy has a conundrum. It's designed to carry very heavy satellites but satellite companies were previously limited to what could be carried into space which is smaller. The FH changes those rules with its much larger payload capabilities but then the satellite companies need to respond and build larger satellites. It's an interesting dilemma.

"If you build it they will come."

I would also think you would be able to afford to place bigger arrays on the satellites to increase the bandwidth and such. Keep in mind that GTO is the biggest game maker since it is where everything goes that feeds any type of transmission service to earthbound customers. This is: internet, tv, etc. So sticking something up there that would be able to handle more bandwidth would be one use.

I would also think they could stick more antennas on it to cover a larger footprint, so one satellite can service more area than before. But yeah, I'm sure people will find a use. It would also work for things going beyond GTO as suggested. Remember Saturn V was so massive because it was taking people to the moon.

 

[claytorj]

Found this Falcon Heavy 'How It Works' (although a little light on the details I thought):

i7 Engineering | Blog - How It Works: The Most Powerful SpaceX Rocket, Falcon Heavy - How It Works: The Most Powerful SpaceX Rocket, Falcon Heavy

 

[HVM]

First flight of FH is in the next year:

Aviationweek: SpaceX Says Falcon 9 To Compete For EELV This Year

In the meantime, SpaceX is preparing to test and qualify the Falcon Heavy next year. The rocket will use Falcon 9 cores for a combined 27 engines to power its first stage. Although slated to debut in 2014, Musk says the company's production schedule is too tight to support a test flight in 2014. “We need to find three additional cores that we could produce, send them through testing and then fly without disrupting our launch manifest,” Musk says. “I'm hopeful we'll have Falcon Heavy cores produced approximately around the end of the year. But just to get through test and qualification, I think it's probably going to be sometime early next year when we launch.”

 

[Mario Kadastik]

Dang ... one one hand it's excellent that they have such a busy manifest that they cannot spare any cores for the FH testing, but on the other hand I really would like to see the heavy fly and make SpaceX the crown holder for biggest lift capacity of any vehicle currently running.

 

[claytorj]

I don't see any rush for them to get the Falcon Heavy going this year. As much as I would also like to see it, I don't see many missions hitting the manifest yet, and they do have a lot on their plate right now.

 

[Grendal]

I don't see any rush for them to get the Falcon Heavy going this year. As much as I would also like to see it, I don't see many missions hitting the manifest yet, and they do have a lot on their plate right now.

Agreed. I think it is much more important that they focus on reusability over the FH vehicle. They'll only need the FH if there are manifests that call for the increased payload. It's important, but less important than reusability IMO.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Dang ... one one hand it's excellent that they have such a busy manifest that they cannot spare any cores for the FH testing, but on the other hand I really would like to see the heavy fly and make SpaceX the crown holder for biggest lift capacity of any vehicle currently running.

Nice to have the record, but SpaceX is all about the price and reusability trumps everything else because it can lower price, increase business and speed up development.

 

[VolkerP]

I join the vote for re-usability* first. Remember, every F9 core reused saves a production slot that can be used for a FH core instead.

*) we're talking F9 first stage here.

 

[Grendal]

It looks like SpaceX is looking for a mid-2015 launch of the FH:

Pad 39A SpaceX laying the groundwork for Falcon Heavy debut | NASASpaceFlight.com

 

[Grendal]

Pad LC-39A is moving along in anticipation of the launch of the FH in July:

In lead up to first flight of Falcon Heavy, SpaceX continues conversion of LC-39A - SpaceFlight Insider

 

[chickensevil]

Pad LC-39A is moving along in anticipation of the launch of the FH in July:

In lead up to first flight of Falcon Heavy, SpaceX continues conversion of LC-39A - SpaceFlight Insider

I'm still anxious to see if the stick to the original cross-feed design idea. In theory this would provide the most optimal lift at each stage of the flight, but the last attempts to fly rockets using such ideas was many, many years ago, and they never really worked correctly. If they could make it work, it has also been theorized that they could just keep adding booster cores in a circle around the rocket which would allow for more lift using the same design. (The outboard most boosters are what drains the fuel, but all cores are firing at 100%).

 

[Grendal]

If it can be done then I'm sure that SpaceX will perfect it.

On a side note, SpaceX just used their 100th core. The FH will use 28 at a time. That's a whole lot all at once. It won't take them long to get to hundreds more at that rate...

 

[sjoshuaj]