The White House is interested in launching Falcon Heavy

As previously reported , on January 24 at 20:30 Moscow time, the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle was burned. The test was conducted for about 12 seconds with simultaneous operation of all 27 Merlin-1D engines. The total rocket thrust during the tests was approximately 2300 tf. As a result, the launch of the rocket was tested without interrupting it from the launch pad. As far as you can understand, the tests were quite successful.

Start, according to the head of the company Ilona Mask, will be carried out either next week, or later, around February. Initially, tests on the launch pad were scheduled for mid-January, but the launch was going to be held at the end of the month. Not only scientists, but also officials, in particular, in the USA, are showing interest in testing and launching themselves.

Here, the chief of space, if I may say so, is now considered Vice President Mike Pence. He is the head of the recently revived National Space Council. In this role, he leads the development of the country's military, civil and commercial space industry.

In general, the Trump administration considers the development of the space industry an important direction. NASA receives generous funding from the state, albeit with some reservations - well, the same Trump believes that flights to Mars have no practical meaning, preferring to talk about the exploration of the moon. In addition, Trump supports the private space program, endorsing SpaceX with its Falcon Heavy, and Blue Origin with its New Glenn rocket. The government of the country argues that the entry of private capital into this industry is extremely important, since it allows the development of astronautics without regard to (or almost without) the state.

At the same time, the successful work of the same SpaceX on creating its own heavy launch vehicle raises the question of the feasibility of investing state funds in other projects, which, in actual fact, turn out to be much more expensive. If SpaceX does succeed in successfully launching the Falcon Heavy, it will enable the use of a launch vehicle that is twice as powerful as any modern rocket. Today Musk announced that the launch will take place on February 6.


Until now, the Trump government has supported both the private commercial astronautics and NASA's efforts to develop the Space Launch System, a rather expensive program. Now there is evidence that the same Pence is paying close attention to the success of the SpaceX private space program. According to him, if the project of the company Ilona Mask proves successful and everything goes well, then the US space program will finally budge and begin a new round of its development.

But NASA, interestingly enough, doesn’t talk too much about the upcoming launch. Earlier this year, the head of the agency said that NASA recognizes and endorses the success of private space exploration. According to him, this will expand the presence of man in the solar system. And in order to succeed, research is needed, new technologies and the mandatory participation of the US private sector and international partners.

As for the design of the first stage of the Falcon Heavy, it consists of a central unit and two side accelerators, which are the upgraded first stages of the medium-heavy Falcon 9 rocket. This carrier is capable of outputting 63.8 tons of low-support orbit. In order to save money, SpaceX offers to install the previously used Falcon 9 stages on its rocket. It is interesting that launching this rocket will cost about three times less than starting the most powerful carrier at the moment, Delta IV Heavy.


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The launch of Falcon Heavy, according to Ilona Mask, will cost only $ 90 million. At the same time, the price per kilogram of payload will be about $ 1,400. But the launch of the Space Launch System, according to specialists, will cost much more - about $ 500 million. All of this will fall on the shoulders of American taxpayers, who, of course, are not too happy with this course of events. The Falcon Heavy can carry a slightly smaller payload into orbit than the SLS (in the latter case, about 70-130 tons of cargo are involved). But the difference in the launch price is simply striking, so the US government, wanting to save money, pays the closest attention to the successes of SpaceX, which was mentioned above.

In the end, if the capabilities of both missiles are about equal, then why pay more?