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SpaceX is poised to conduct the first commercial launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket with the Arabsat-6A mission as early as this week.
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Patrick Attwell
April 8th, 2019
SpaceX readies its first Block 5 Falcon Heavy for flight inside the horizontal integration space just outside Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. Photo Credit: SpaceX
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – SpaceX is poised to conduct the first commercial launch of its Falcon Heavy Rocket with the Arabsat-6A mission.
(9:35 GMT) April 9, the Arabsat-6A mission is planned to be the fourth SpaceX launch of the year and first of two Falcon Heavy launches in 2019.
The satellite being launched for Arabsat and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. The rocket is expected to send the satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit.
However, the weather for the April 9 launch is unlikely to be 30% chance of acceptable conditions. The primary concerns being watched are "disturbed weather, anvil and cumulus clouds, and lightning."
Should the launch be postponed by 24 hours to April 10, conditions are much more favorable with and 80% chance of acceptable weather.
In the lead up to the flight, SpaceX Conducted a static fire test of the rocket 's 27 Merlin 1D engines. This took place on April 5.
Booster mate inside SpaceX's shed at LC-39A ahead of Falcon Heavy static fire yesterday pic.twitter.com/G7ZPhOBkyj
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 6, 2019
That test had been scheduled for April 3 and then April 4, but was delayed for unknown reasons. Later, company CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that this launch is the first Block 5 version of Falcon Heavy, so teams are being extra cautious.
After the successful static fire, the vehicle is back to the horizontal Integration Facility for the payload to the second stage and final pre-launch checks to be conducted.
The inaugural Falcon Heavy launch occurred in February 2018 used Block 3 and Block 4 boosters. The Block 5 is the final iteration of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy first stages.
Block 5 has an upgraded thermal protection system and other changes that improve booster efficiency and decrease the time it takes to fly the booster again.
Falcon Heavy is currently the most powerful rocket in the world by a factor of two, according to SpaceX. It is capable of lofting 140,000 pounds (63,000 kilograms) to low-Earth orbit and 59,000 pounds (27.00 kilograms) to geostationary transfer orbit.
The Arabsat-6A spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin in Denver, Colorado, and uses the A2100 satellite bus. At roughly 13,000 pounds (6,000 kilograms), East orbital slot is expected to operate from the 30.5-degrees East orbital slot and provide television, internet, and phone services to customers throughout the Middle Eastern and Northern Africa for a projected design life of 15 years.
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Several sonic booms are expected.
Meanwhile, the core course is expected to land on a drone ship downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. If it lands successfully, it would be the first successful landing of a Falcon Heavy core internship-the one from the inaugural flight. According to SpaceX, only one of the three engines planned to relight successfully did so. As such, the core was not able to slow down enough.
The Arabsat-6A satellite undergoing final testing at Lockheed Martin's Sunnyvale, California, site. Credit photo: Lockheed Martin
Tagged: Arabsat 6A Falcon Heavy Kennedy Launch Center Space Complex 39A Lead Stories Saudi Arabia SpaceX
Patrick Attwell
Patrick Attwell is a native of Houston, Texas but he currently resides in Austin, Texas where he studies accounting at Concordia University Texas. Atwell has had a passion for all things pertaining to aerospace, rocketry, and aviation. Atwell has worked to cover these fields for more than a decade. NASA's Commercial Crew Flight Assignments at NASA's Commercial Crew Flight Assignments at NASA's Commercial Crew Flight Assignments at NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has been known as "rocket fever." NASA's Johnson Space Center and other space-related events in the Lone Star State.
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