Falcon Heavy

Falcon Heavy
Falcon Heavy on pad LC-39A, being prepared for its first launch
Function Orbital heavy-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer SpaceX
Country of origin United States
Cost per launch
  • Reusable: $90M[1]
  • Expendable: $150M[2]
Size
Height 70 m (230 ft)[3]
Diameter 3.66 m (12.0 ft)[3]
Width 12.2 m (40 ft)[3]
Mass 1,420,788 kg (3,132,301 lb)[3]
Stages 2+
Capacity
Payload to LEO (28.5°) 63,800 kg (140,700 lb)[3]
Payload to GTO (27°) 26,700 kg (58,900 lb)[3]
Payload to Mars 16,800 kg (37,000 lb)[3]
Payload to Pluto 3,500 kg (7,700 lb)[3]
Associated rockets
Family Falcon 9
Comparable
Launch history
Status Active
Launch sites
Total launches 1
Successes 1
Landings 2 / 3 attempts
First flight February 6, 2018[4]
Boosters
No. boosters 2
Engines 9 Merlin 1D per booster
Thrust Sea level: 7.6 MN (1,700,000 lbf) (each)
Vacuum: 8.2 MN (1,800,000 lbf) (each)
Total thrust Sea level: 15.2 MN (3,400,000 lbf)
Vacuum: 16.4 MN (3,700,000 lbf)
Specific impulse Sea level: 282 seconds[5]
Vacuum: 311 seconds[6]
Burn time 154 seconds
Fuel Subcooled LOX / Chilled RP-1[7]
First stage
Engines 9 Merlin 1D
Thrust Sea level: 7.6 MN (1,700,000 lbf)
Vacuum: 8.2 MN (1,800,000 lbf)
Specific impulse Sea level: 282 seconds
Vacuum: 311 seconds
Burn time 187 seconds
Fuel Subcooled LOX / Chilled RP-1
Second stage
Engines 1 Merlin 1D Vacuum
Thrust 934 kN (210,000 lbf)[3]
Specific impulse 348 seconds[3]
Burn time 397 seconds[3]
Fuel LOX / RP-1

Falcon Heavy is a partially reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured by SpaceX. It is derived from the Falcon 9 vehicle and consists of a strengthened Falcon 9 first stage as a central core with two additional first stages as strap-on boosters.[8] Falcon Heavy has the highest payload capacity of any currently operational launch vehicle, and the fourth-highest capacity of any rocket ever built, trailing the American Saturn V and the Soviet Energia and N1.

SpaceX conducted Falcon Heavy's maiden launch on February 6, 2018, at 3:45 p.m. EST (20:45 UTC).[4] The rocket carried a Tesla Roadster belonging to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, as a dummy payload.[9] The next Falcon Heavy launch is scheduled for early 2019.[10]

Falcon Heavy was designed to carry humans into space beyond low Earth orbit, although as of February 2018 Musk does not plan to apply for a human-rating certification to carry NASA astronauts.[11] Falcon Heavy and other current Falcon launch vehicles are poised to be replaced by the BFR ("Big Falcon Rocket") by the early 2020s.[12]

History

SpaceX breaking ground at Vandenberg AFB SLC-4E in June 2011 for the Falcon Heavy launch pad

Concepts for a Falcon Heavy launch vehicle were initially discussed as early as 2004. SpaceX unveiled the plan for the Falcon Heavy to the public at a Washington DC news conference in April 2011, with initial test flight expected in 2013.[13]

A number of factors delayed the planned maiden flight by 5 years to 2018, including two anomalies with Falcon 9 launch vehicles, which required all engineering resources to be dedicated to failure analysis, halting flight operations for many months. The integration and structural challenges of combining three Falcon 9 cores were much more difficult than expected.[14]

In July 2017, Elon Musk said, "It actually ended up being way harder to do Falcon Heavy than we thought. ... Really way, way more difficult than we originally thought. We were pretty naive about that."[15]

The initial test flight for a Falcon Heavy lifted off on February 6, 2018, at 3:45 pm EST, carrying its dummy payload, Musk's personal Tesla Roadster, beyond Mars orbit.[4]

Conception and funding

Musk mentioned Falcon Heavy in a September 2005 news update, referring to a customer request from 18 months prior.[16] Various solutions using the planned Falcon 5 had been explored, but the only cost-effective, reliable iteration was one that used a 9-engine first stage – the Falcon 9. The Falcon Heavy was developed with private capital with Musk stating that the cost was more than $500 million. No government financing was provided for its development.[17]

Design and development

Conceptual rendering of Falcon Heavy at Pad 39A, Cape Canaveral

The Falcon Heavy design is based on Falcon 9's fuselage and engines.

By 2008, SpaceX had been aiming for the first launch of Falcon 9 in 2009, while "Falcon 9 Heavy would be in a couple of years". Speaking at the 2008 Mars Society Conference, Musk also indicated that he expected a hydrogen-fueled upper stage would follow 2–3 years later (which would have been around 2013).[18]

By April 2011, the capabilities and performance of the Falcon 9 vehicle were better understood, SpaceX having completed two successful demonstration missions to LEO, one of which included reignition of the second-stage engine. At a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. on April 5, 2011, Musk stated that Falcon Heavy would "carry more payload to orbit or escape velocity than any vehicle in history, apart from the Saturn V Moon rocket ... and Soviet Energia rocket".[19] In the same year, with the expected increase in demand for both variants, SpaceX announced plans to expand manufacturing capacity "as we build towards the capability of producing a Falcon 9 first stage or Falcon Heavy side booster every week and an upper stage every two weeks".[19]

In 2015, SpaceX announced a number of changes to the Falcon Heavy rocket, worked in parallel to the upgrade of the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle.[20] In December 2016, SpaceX released a photo showing the Falcon Heavy interstage at the company headquarters in Hawthorne, California.[21]

Testing

By May 2013, a new, partly underground test stand was being built at the SpaceX Rocket Development and Test Facility in McGregor, Texas, specifically to test the triple cores and twenty-seven rocket engines of the Falcon Heavy.[22] By May 2017, SpaceX conducted the first static fire test of flight-design Falcon Heavy center core at the McGregor facility.[23][24]

In July 2017, Musk discussed publicly the challenges of testing a complex launch vehicle like the three-core Falcon Heavy, indicating that a large extent of the new design "is really impossible to test on the ground" and could not be effectively tested independent of actual flight tests.[15]

By September 2017, all three first stage cores had completed their static fire tests on the ground test stand.[25] The first Falcon Heavy static fire test was conducted on January 24, 2018.[26]

Maiden flight

In April 2011, Musk was planning for a first launch of Falcon Heavy from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the West Coast in 2013.[19][27] SpaceX refurbished Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg AFB to accommodate Falcon 9 and Heavy. The first launch from the Cape Canaveral East Coast launch complex was planned for late 2013 or 2014.[28]

Due partly to the failure of SpaceX CRS-7 in June 2015, SpaceX rescheduled the maiden Falcon Heavy flight in September 2015 to occur no earlier than April 2016,[29] but by February 2016 had postponed it again to late 2016. The flight was to be launched from the refurbished Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A.[30][31]

In August 2016, the demonstration flight was moved to early 2017,[32] then to summer 2017,[33] to late 2017[34] and to January 2018.[35]

A second demonstration flight is scheduled for November 2018 with the STP-2 U.S. Air Force payload.[36] Operational GTO missions for Intelsat and Inmarsat, which were planned for late 2017, were moved to the Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket version as it had become powerful enough to lift those heavy payloads in its expendable configuration.[37][38] The first commercial GTO mission is also scheduled in December 2018 or January 2019 for Arabsat.[39]

At a July 2017 meeting of the International Space Station Research and Development meeting in Washington, D.C., Musk downplayed expectations for the success of the maiden flight:

There's a real good chance the vehicle won't make it to orbit ... I hope it makes it far enough away from the pad that it does not cause pad damage. I would consider even that a win, to be honest.[15]

Musk went on to say the integration and structural challenges of combining three Falcon 9 cores were much more difficult than expected.[14][15] The plan was for all three cores to land back on Earth after launch.[40]

In December 2017, Musk tweeted that the dummy payload on the maiden Falcon Heavy launch would be his personal Tesla Roadster playing David Bowie's "Life on Mars", and that it would be launched into an orbit around the Sun that will reach the orbit of Mars.[40][41] He released pictures in the following days.[42] The car had three cameras attached to provide "epic views".[9]

Falcon Heavy a few seconds after liftoff

On December 28, 2017, the Falcon Heavy was moved to the launch pad in preparation of a static fire test of all 27 engines, which was expected on January 19, 2018.[43] However, due to the U.S. government shutdown that began on January 20, the testing and launch were further delayed.[44]

The static fire test was conducted on January 24, 2018.[26][45] Musk confirmed via Twitter that the test "was good" and later announced the rocket would be launched on February 6.[46]

On February 6, 2018, after a delay of over two hours due to high winds,[47] Falcon Heavy lifted off at 3:45pm EST.[4] Its side boosters landed safely on Landing Zones 1 and 2 a few minutes later.[48] However, only one of the three engines on the center booster that were intended to restart, ignited during its descent, causing it to hit the water next to the droneship at a speed of over 480 km/h (300 mph).[49][50]

Initially Elon Musk tweeted that the Roadster had overshot its planned heliocentric orbit, and would reach the asteroid belt. In fact, observations by telescopes showed that the Roadster would only slightly exceed the orbit of Mars at aphelion.[51]

Design

From left to right, Falcon 1, Falcon 9 v1.0, three versions of the Falcon 9 v1.1, three versions of Falcon 9 v1.2 (Full Thrust), two versions of Falcon 9 Block5, and the Falcon Heavy

The Heavy configuration consists of a structurally strengthened Falcon 9 as the "core" component, with two additional Falcon 9 first stages acting as liquid fuel strap-on boosters,[8] which is conceptually similar to EELV Delta IV Heavy launcher and proposals for the Atlas V Heavy and Russian Angara A5V. Falcon Heavy has more lift capability than any other operational rocket, with a payload of 64,000 kilograms (141,000 lb) to low earth orbit and 16,800 kg (37,000 lb) to trans-Mars injection.[52] The rocket was designed to meet or exceed all current requirements of human rating. The structural safety margins are 40% above flight loads, higher than the 25% margins of other rockets.[53] Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and it would restore the possibility of flying crewed missions to the Moon or Mars.[3]

The first stage is powered by three Falcon 9 derived cores, each equipped with nine Merlin 1D engines. The Falcon Heavy has a total sea-level thrust at liftoff of 22,819 kN (5,130,000 lbf), from the 27 Merlin 1D engines, while thrust rises to 24,681 kN (5,549,000 lbf) as the craft climbs out of the atmosphere.[3] The upper stage is powered by a single Merlin 1D engine modified for vacuum operation, with a thrust of 934 kN (210,000 lbf), an expansion ratio of 117:1 and a nominal burn time of 397 seconds. At launch the center core throttles to full power for a few seconds for additional thrust, then throttles down. This allows a longer burn time. After the side boosters separate, the center core throttles back up to maximum thrust. For added reliability of restart, the engine has dual redundant pyrophoric igniters (TEA-TEB).[8] The interstage, which connects the upper and lower stage for Falcon 9, is a carbon fiber aluminum core composite structure. Stage separation occurs via reusable separation collets and a pneumatic pusher system. The Falcon 9 tank walls and domes are made from aluminium-lithium alloy. SpaceX uses an all-friction stir welded tank. The second stage tank of Falcon 9 is simply a shorter version of the first stage tank and uses most of the same tooling, material and manufacturing techniques. This approach reduces manufacturing costs during vehicle production.[8]

All three cores of the Falcon Heavy arrange the engines in a structural form SpaceX calls Octaweb, aimed at streamlining the manufacturing process,[54] and each core includes four extensible landing legs.[55] To control the descent of the boosters and center core through the atmosphere, SpaceX uses small grid fins which deploy from the vehicle after separation.[56] Immediately after the side boosters separate, the center engine in each burns for a few seconds in order to control the booster’s trajectory safely away from the rocket.[55][57] The legs then deploy as the boosters turn back to Earth, landing each softly on the ground. The center core continues to fire until stage separation, after which its legs deploy and land back on Earth on a drone ship. The landing legs are made of carbon fiber with aluminum honeycomb structure. The four legs stow along the sides of each core during liftoff and later extend outward and down for landing.[58]

Capabilities

The partially reusable Falcon Heavy falls into the heavy-lift range of launch systems, capable of lifting 20 to 50 metric tons into low Earth orbit (LEO), under the classification system used by a NASA human spaceflight review panel.[59] A fully expendable Falcon Heavy may also reach the super heavy-lift category (above 50 metric tons to LEO).

The initial concept (Falcon 9-S9 2005) envisioned payloads of 24,750 kg (54,560 lb) to LEO, but by April 2011 this was projected to be up to 53,000 kg (117,000 lb)[60] with GTO payloads up to 12,000 kg (26,000 lb).[61] Later reports in 2011 projected higher payloads beyond LEO, including 19,000 kilograms (42,000 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit,[62] 16,000 kg (35,000 lb) to translunar trajectory, and 14,000 kg (31,000 lb) on a trans-Martian orbit to Mars.[63][64]

By late 2013, SpaceX raised the projected GTO payload for Falcon Heavy to up to 21,200 kg (46,700 lb).[65]

In April 2017, the projected LEO payload for Falcon Heavy was raised from 54,400 kg (119,900 lb) to 63,800 kg (140,700 lb). The maximum payload is achieved when the rocket flies a fully expendable launch profile, not recovering any of the three first-stage boosters.[1] With just the core booster expended, and two side-boosters recovered, Musk estimates the payload penalty to be around 10%, which would still yield over 57 tonnes of lift capability to LEO.[66]

Maximum theoretical payload capacity (fully expendable)
Destination Falcon Heavy Falcon 9
Aug 2013
to Apr 2016		 May 2016
to Mar 2017		 Since Apr 2017
LEO (28.5°) 53,000 kg 54,400 kg 63,800 kg 22,800 kg
GTO (27°) 21,200 kg 22,200 kg 26,700 kg 8,300 kg
GTO (27°) reusable 6,400 kg 6,400 kg 8,000 kg 5,500 kg
Mars 13,200 kg 13,600 kg 16,800 kg 4,020 kg
Pluto – 2,900 kg 3,500 kg –

Reusability

Falcon Heavy reusable side boosters land in unison at Cape Canaveral Landing Zones 1 and 2 following test flight on 6 February 2018.

From 2013 to 2016, SpaceX conducted parallel development of a reusable rocket architecture for Falcon 9, that applies to parts of Falcon Heavy as well.

Early on, SpaceX had expressed hopes that all rocket stages would eventually be reusable.[67] SpaceX has since demonstrated routine land and sea recovery of the Falcon 9 first stage, and has made attempts to recover the payload fairing.[68] In the case of Falcon Heavy, the two outer cores separate from the rocket earlier in the flight, and are thus moving at a lower velocity than in a Falcon 9 launch profile.[58] For the first flight of Falcon Heavy, SpaceX had considered attempting to recover the second stage,[69] but did not execute this plan.

SpaceX has indicated that the Falcon Heavy payload performance to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) will be reduced due to the addition of the reusable technology, but the rocket would fly at a much lower price. When recovering all three booster cores, GTO payload is 8,000 kg (18,000 lb).[1] If only the two outside cores are recovered while the center core is expended, GTO payload would be approximately 16,000 kg (35,000 lb). As a comparison, the next-heaviest contemporary rocket, the fully expendable Delta IV Heavy, can deliver 14,210 kg (31,330 lb) to GTO.[70]

Propellant crossfeed

Falcon Heavy was originally designed with a unique "propellant crossfeed" capability, whereby the center core engines would be supplied with fuel and oxidizer from the two side cores until their separation.[71] Operating all engines at full thrust from launch, with fuel supplied mainly from the side boosters, would deplete the side boosters sooner, allowing their earlier separation. This would in turn leave most of the center core propellant available after booster separation, with a lighter load to accelerate.[72] The propellant crossfeed system was originally proposed in a 1998 book on orbital mechanics by Tom Logsdon, and nicknamed "asparagus staging".[73]

Musk stated in 2016 that crossfeed would not be implemented.[74] Instead, the center booster throttles down shortly after liftoff to conserve fuel, and resumes full thrust after the side boosters have separated.[3]

Launch prices

At an appearance in May 2004 before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Musk testified, "Long term plans call for development of a heavy lift product and even a super-heavy, if there is customer demand. We expect that each size increase would result in a meaningful decrease in cost per pound to orbit. ... Ultimately, I believe $500 per pound or less is very achievable."[75] This $1,100 per kilogram ($500/lb) goal stated by Musk in 2011 is 35% of the cost of the lowest-cost-per-pound LEO-capable launch system in a circa-2000 study: the Zenit, a medium-lift launch vehicle that can carry 14,000 kilograms (30,000 lb) into LEO.[76]

As of March 2013, Falcon Heavy launch prices were below $2,200/kg ($1,000/lb) to low-Earth orbit when the launch vehicle is transporting its maximum delivered cargo weight.[77] The published prices for Falcon Heavy launches have changed somewhat from year to year, with announced prices for the various versions of Falcon Heavy priced at $80–125 million in 2011,[60] $83–128M in 2012,[61] $77–135M in 2013,[78] $85M for up to 6,400 kg (14,100 lb) to GTO in 2014, $90M for up to 8,000 kg (18,000 lb) to GTO in 2016,[79] and $150M for 63,800 kg (140,700 lb) to LEO or 26,700 kg (58,900 lb) to GTO (fully expendable)，or $95M for 90% of its maximum capacity in 2018.[2] Launch contracts typically reflect launch prices at the time the contract is signed. In 2011, SpaceX stated that the cost of reaching low Earth orbit could be as low as $2,200/kg ($1,000/lb) if an annual rate of four launches can be sustained, and as of 2011 planned to eventually launch as many as 10 Falcon Heavies and 10 Falcon 9s annually.[63] A third launch site, intended exclusively for SpaceX private use, is planned at Boca Chica Village, Texas. SpaceX started construction on the third Falcon Heavy launch facility in 2014, with the first launches from the facility no earlier than late 2018.[80][81] In late 2013, SpaceX had projected Falcon Heavy's inaugural flight to be in 2014, but it did not occur until February 2018 due to limited manufacturing capacity and the need to deliver on the Falcon 9 launch manifest.[82][83]

By late 2013, SpaceX prices for space launch were already the lowest in the industry.[84] SpaceX's price for reused spacecraft could be reduced up to 30% short term, and potentially even further in the future.[17][85]

Launches and payloads

Due to improvements to the performance of Falcon 9, some of the heavier satellites flown to GTO, such as Intelsat 35e[86] and Inmarsat-5 F4,[87] ended up being launched before the debut of Falcon Heavy. SpaceX anticipated the first commercial Falcon Heavy launch would be three to six months after a successful maiden flight,[88] but the second and third missions were delayed towards the end of 2018.[89]

Flight № Launch date Payload Customer Outcome Remarks
1 February 6, 2018,
20:45 UTC[4]		 Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster SpaceX Success[90] Musk's Roadster was sent to a trans-Mars injection heliocentric orbit.[91][92] Both side boosters landed successfully; the center booster suffered two engine failures on re-entry and struck the ocean, damaging two of the drone ship’s engines.[50] The mission was originally intended to be launched as early as 2013.
2 January 2019[93] Arabsat-6A Arabsat Planned Saudi Arabian heavy communications satellite.[94]
3 March 2019[36] USAF STP-2 DoD Planned The mission will support the U.S. Air Force EELV certification process for the Falcon Heavy.[95] Secondary payloads include LightSail,[96] GPIM,[97][98][99] the Deep Space Atomic Clock,[100] six COSMIC-2 satellites,[101][102] the Oculus-ASR satellite,[103] Prox-1 nanosatellites,[96] and the ISAT satellite.[104]
– 2020[105] AFSPC-52 US Air Force Planned
– TBA TBA Inmarsat Planned Launch option maintained after a 2016 Falcon Heavy launch of European Aviation Network satellite was switched for an Ariane 5 launch in 2017.[39]
– TBA TBA Intelsat Planned Launch option signed back in 2012.[39]

First commercial contracts

In May 2012, SpaceX announced that Intelsat had signed the first commercial contract for a Falcon Heavy flight. It was not confirmed at the time when the first Intelsat launch would occur, but the agreement will have SpaceX delivering satellites to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).[106][107] In August 2016, it emerged that this Intelsat contract had been reassigned to a Falcon 9 Full Thrust mission to deliver Intelsat 35e into orbit in the third quarter of 2017.[37] Performance improvements of the Falcon 9 vehicle family since the 2012 announcement, advertising 8,300 kg to GTO for its expendable flight profile,[108] enable the launch of this 6,000 kg satellite without upgrading to a Falcon Heavy variant.

In 2014, Inmarsat booked 3 launches with Falcon Heavy,[109] but due to delays they switched a payload to Ariane 5 for 2017.[110] Similarly to the Intelsat 35e case, another satellite from this contract, Inmarsat 5-F4, was switched to a Falcon 9 Full Thrust thanks to the increased liftoff capacity.[38] The remaining contract covers the launch of Inmarsat 6-F1 in 2020 on a Falcon 9.[111]

First DoD contract: USAF

In December 2012, SpaceX announced its first Falcon Heavy launch contract with the United States Department of Defense (DoD). The United States Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center awarded SpaceX two Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)-class missions, including the Space Test Program 2 (STP-2) mission for Falcon Heavy, originally scheduled to be launched in March 2017,[112][113] to be placed at a near circular orbit at an altitude of ~700 km, with an inclination of 70°.[114]

In April 2015, SpaceX sent the U.S. Air Force an updated letter of intent outlining a certification process for its Falcon Heavy rocket to launch national security satellites. The process includes three successful flights of the Falcon Heavy including two consecutive successful flights, and states that Falcon Heavy can be ready to fly national security payloads by 2017.[115] But in July 2017, SpaceX announced that the first test flight would take place in December 2017, pushing the launch of the second launch (Space Test Program 2) to June 2018.[116] In May 2018, on the occasion of the first launch of the Falcon 9 Block 5 variant, a further delay, to October 2018, was announced; the STP-2 mission will use three Block 5 cores.[117]

STP-2 payload

The payload for the STP-2 mission is composed of 25 small spacecraft from the U.S. military, NASA, and research institutions: [116] The Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) will be a payload; it is a new non-toxic propellant demonstrator project partly developed by the US Air Force.[97][118] Another secondary payload is the miniaturized Deep Space Atomic Clock that is expected to facilitate autonomous navigation.[119] The Air Force Research Laboratory's Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) has a mass of 500 kg and will measure the effects of very low frequency radio waves on space radiation.[116] The British 'Orbital Test Bed' payload is hosting several commercial and military experiments.

Other small satellites include Prox 1, built by Georgia Tech students to test out a 3D-printed thruster and a miniaturized gyroscope, LightSail by the Planetary Society,[96] Oculus-ASR nanosatellite,[103] and CubeSats from the U.S. Air Force Academy, the Naval Postgraduate School, the Naval Research Laboratory, the University of Texas at Austin, Michigan Tech, Cal Poly, and a CubeSat assembled by students at Merritt Island High School in Florida.[116]

The launcher will include a 5,000 kg ballast mass, and the Block 5 second stage will allow multiple reignitions to place its many payloads in multiple orbits.[120]

Crewed circumlunar flight

On February 27, 2017, Musk announced that SpaceX would attempt to fly two private citizens on a free-return trajectory around the Moon in late 2018, somewhat paralleling Apollo 8.[121] The initial plan was to use a Dragon 2 spacecraft launched on the Falcon Heavy. On February 5, 2018, Elon Musk announced that Falcon Heavy will not be flying humans, and that the lunar mission is more likely to be carried out with the BFR system,[122][123] and no earlier than mid-2019.[124] The two private citizens, who have not yet been named, approached SpaceX about taking a trip around the Moon and have "already paid a significant deposit" for the cost of the mission, according to a statement from the company. The names of the two individuals will be announced later, pending the result of initial health tests to ensure their fitness for the mission, the statement said.[125] The two passengers would be the only people on board what SpaceX expects to be about a week-long trip around the Moon. "This would be a long loop around the moon. ... It would skim the surface of the moon, go quite a bit further out into deep space and then loop back to Earth," Musk said during the teleconference. "So I'm guessing, distance-wise, maybe [about 500,000 to 650,000 kilometers]."[126]

Solar System transport missions

In 2011, NASA Ames Research Center proposed a Mars mission called Red Dragon that would use a Falcon Heavy as the launch vehicle and trans-Martian injection vehicle, and a variant of the Dragon capsule to enter the Martian atmosphere. The proposed science objectives were to detect biosignatures and to drill 1.0 meter (3.3 ft) or so underground, in an effort to sample reservoirs of water ice known to exist under the surface. The mission cost as of 2011 was projected to be less than US$425,000,000, not including the launch cost.[127] SpaceX 2015 estimation was 2,000–4,000 kg (4,400–8,800 lb) to the surface of Mars, with a soft retropropulsive landing following a limited atmospheric deceleration using a parachute and heat shield.[128] Beyond the Red Dragon concept, SpaceX was seeing potential for Falcon Heavy and Dragon 2 to carry science payloads across much of the Solar System, particularly to Jupiter's moon Europa.[128] SpaceX announced in 2017 that propulsive landing for Dragon 2 would not be developed further, and that the capsule would not receive landing legs. Consequently, the Red Dragon missions to Mars were cancelled in favor of the BFR, a larger vehicle using a different landing technology.[129]

See also

References

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