SpaceX completes first static fire test of Falcon Heavy core stage
Capitalism in space: SpaceX this week successfully completed the first static fire engine test of the core stage of its Falcon Heavy rocket.
In a tweet, the company said that it completed the first static fire of the core stage of the rocket at the company’s McGregor, Texas, test site last week. The company did not disclose the precise date of the test or its duration. The company included in the tweet a video showing about 15 seconds of the test.
The Falcon Heavy uses three Falcon 9 first stages, or cores, along with an upper stage, an approach similar to United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 Heavy. The two side booster cores for the first launch will be previously-flown Falcon 9 first stages, but the center core will be a new stage, modified to accommodate the side boosters.
The first launch is scheduled for sometime in the late summer, early fall.
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Capitalism in space: SpaceX this week successfully completed the first static fire engine test of the core stage of its Falcon Heavy rocket.
In a tweet, the company said that it completed the first static fire of the core stage of the rocket at the company’s McGregor, Texas, test site last week. The company did not disclose the precise date of the test or its duration. The company included in the tweet a video showing about 15 seconds of the test.
The Falcon Heavy uses three Falcon 9 first stages, or cores, along with an upper stage, an approach similar to United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 Heavy. The two side booster cores for the first launch will be previously-flown Falcon 9 first stages, but the center core will be a new stage, modified to accommodate the side boosters.
The first launch is scheduled for sometime in the late summer, early fall.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
We know they tested the refurbed/converted Thaicomm-8 core that will be one of the two side boosters. So at least 2/3 tested.
Surprisingly they will NOT apparently be testing all three together at McGregor, which is a bit surprising since it was assumed that the current test stand (In ground vs on big podium) was designed for testing all three together.
And never forget to mention.
– Falcon Heavy 64,000 Kilos to LEO. Around $100 million a launch.
– SLS – Block 1 – 70,000 Kilos to LEO. $43 billion and counting?
Can anyone do math in NASA/Congress? Apparently not!!! (I am aware Block 2 will have more capacity. I know that the 43 billion is the total dev cost of Ares, Orion, and SLS, but until they actually launch something those costs are for the first launch).
@geoffc
Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar has been around in the space industry. 1:06:00 into the Space Show she answers exactly your question. Or tries to. And she discussed for some time before that point. It’s because of the “architecture” and because only SLS/Orion is capable of deep space flight. And the goal is to cost huge amounts of monies, it’s a good thing. Because it is the government high costs are “strategically” important for maintaining the (outdated) industrial base.
Dr. Dittmar link http://www.thespaceshow.com/guest/dr.-mary-lynne-dittmar
geoffc wrote: “the 43 billion is the total dev cost of Ares, Orion, and SLS, but until they actually launch something those costs are for the first launch”
Well, technically, until they actually launch something those costs are for zero launches. Just as all the money spent on Ares was for nothing.
Join govt. and you too can twist your brain into a pretzel.
At what point do the people figure out that SLS vs FH is just a pure example of the corrupt comedy running our lives?
If Musk built a booster to carry a fully fueled SLS to LEO govt would see that as proof we need SLS.