Falcon Heavy

SpaceX launches final NOAA GOES weather satellite on Falcon Heavy rocket

June 25, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The geostationary orbital satellite is the fourth and final in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R (GOES-R) series. Liftoff happened at 5:26 p.m. EDT (2126 UTC).

SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy rocket, X-37B military spaceplane

December 28, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

SpaceX launched the X-37B military spaceplane onboard its Falcon Heavy rocket late Thursday night. Liftoff of the USSF-52 mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center occurred 8:07 p.m. EST (0107 UTC) on Thursday at the opening of a ten-minute launch window.

Falcon Heavy launch of secretive X-37B military spaceplane on hold

December 11, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

Falcon Heavy is returning to the hangar and the launch of the USSF-52 mission with the X-37B spaceplane is on hold. A ground issue scrubbed an earlier launch attempt and now required work on the vehicle itself.

SpaceX conducts static fire test ahead of fifth Falcon Heavy launch of 2023

December 3, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

Following two Falcon 9 launches from both California and Florida, SpaceX closed out the first weekend of December with a Falcon Heavy static fire test. The ignition of the 27 Merlin engines comes a week ahead of the planned launch of the U.S. military’s secretive X-37B spaceplane.

U.S. military’s X-37B mini-shuttle to launch on SpaceX Falcon Heavy for the first time

November 9, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

The U.S. military’s experimental spaceplane will soon soar to orbit using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time, a Pentagon news release announced. The X-37B spacecraft will launch from the Kennedy Space Center no earlier than December 7.

Capitol Hill budget battle may limit initial funding of some National Security Space Launch missions

November 8, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

Among the 21 missions set to be ordered in the fifth year of Phase 2 task orders, only eight are anticipated to be ordered under a continuing resolution.

Falcon Heavy launches NASA’s Psyche asteroid probe

October 13, 2023 William Harwood

Getting off to a ground-shaking start, NASA’s $1.2 billion Psyche asteroid probe roared into space atop a Falcon Heavy rocket Friday, setting off on a 2.2-billion-mile voyage to a rare, metal-rich asteroid that may hold clues about how the cores of rocky planets like Earth first formed.