SpaceX won’t just launch its Starship rocket in April. The company will also launch its other most powerful rocket: the Falcon Heavy. The flight is scheduled for the next day.
It’s Spectacular Mission Week at SpaceX. Monday, April 17 is orbital flight day for the Starship. The new rocket of the American company must leave Texas to finish its race in the Pacific Ocean. She is ready to go. If all goes well, SpaceX will have reached an important milestone in the design of the Starship.
Takeoff of the Falcon Heavy after the Starship
And on Tuesday, April 18, another SpaceX rocket will take off: from the Kennedy Space Center, the company will send a telecommunications satellite (ViaSat-3) into space, aboard the Falcon Heavy. The static firing took place on April 13, according to SpaceX. At the time of takeoff, it will be 1:29 a.m. (Paris time) on April 19.
The Falcon Heavy is a particular assembly: the base of the launcher is in fact a Falcon 9 rocket. Two thrusters are added to it, which turn out to be in fact “pieces” from two other Falcon 9 rockets. In other words , the Falcon Heavy is in fact an amalgam of three Falcon 9 rockets (two of which have no upper stage, useless here).
In recent years, SpaceX has not operated this rocket often. However, we are witnessing an acceleration for 2023. A first flight took place in mid-January and, according to the group’s schedule, four other missions are planned this year – including that of April. These five launches will exceed the number of flights SpaceX has performed with the Falcon Heavy in five years.
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