There also won't likely be a technical webcast this time, as SpaceX does not seem to be doing those as often anymore. The Air Force also announced that it had selected the Falcon Heavy to launch its classified Air Force Space Command-52 satellite later in 2020.
The rocket, carrying a Saudi Arabian communications satellite, is set to lift off at 6:35 p.m. tonight from Kennedy Space Center with a almost two-hour window. The side booster landings will be about 7:51 after launch and the center core landing will be about 9:48 after launch.
As the side boosters return residents of Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia and Indian River counties could hear one or more sonic booms during the landing attempt at Cape Canaveral Wednesday evening.
The SpaceX Falcon Heavy on the launchpad. The rocket was supposed to go up yesterday, but the launch was cancelled due to high winds.
This will be the first commercial mission for the Falcon Heavy.
A launch on a Falcon Heavy carries a price tag of $90 million, compared to competitor United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy, which costs more than $300 million.
Forecasters with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing are predicting an 80 percent chance of good launch conditions for the almost two-hour window.
Six interesting stats from Liverpool 2-0 Porto
The former was everything Liverpool thought they'd purchased last summer, a mixture of combative tackling in deep-lying positions and slaloming runs past opponents into the final third. "But we've got to be pleased".
This historic first launch of the most powerful rocket since the Saturn V of the 1960s will lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Part of Falcon Heavy's appeal is the fact that its hardware is reusable. SpaceX is expected to attempt to land all three this week.
"Arabsat-6A is a high-capacity telecommunications satellite that will deliver television, radio, Internet and mobile communications to customers in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe", SpaceX representatives wrote in a mission description. "Built on Lockheed Martin's enhanced LM 2100 platform, Arabsat-6A includes several innovations that provide advanced Kaspot beam communications services and Ku and Ka-band coverages in addition to other frequency bands".
Though Falcon Heavy's inaugural launch ultimately went off without a hitch, SpaceX will now have to repeat that success with the added risk of carrying a multimillion dollar satellite. The company hopes to get there on the back of the Falcon Heavy.
According to the US Air Force 45th Weather Squadron, which is responsible for forecasting the weather for space launches from Kennedy Space Center, there is an 80 per cent chance of favourable weather for this particular launch.
More recently, the Falcon Heavy rocket has entered the conversation for human exploration.
Comments