Elon Musk has released the first images of the Falcon Heavy launcher, whose maiden flight is scheduled for next month. If the test flight is successful, which Musk has doubted, the Falcon Heavy will become the most powerful active launcher in the world.
No more just computer simulation: six years later The declaration On the development of the company's heavy launcher and after many postponements, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, Posted on his Twitter page Spectacular first photos of the "Falcon Heavy" launcher. The photos show the launcher resting in the company's hangar in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its maiden flight is currently planned for January 2018.
The heavy Falcon is a "spin-off" of the space launch company's workhorse, Falcon 9. The basic idea of its design is a normal two-stage Falcon 9, to which two additional first stages are attached as side boosters, in order to significantly increase the launch capabilities of the vehicle into space.
Like the Falcon 9, all three first stages are planned to land back for reuse - a spectacle that will surely be most spectacular, although it is worth noting that we will not be able to see all three stages land at the same time, because the two side boosters will detach before the main first stage and land on a land pad at Cape Canaveral , while the middle one will land on a marine rig in the middle of the sea. The two side boosters on the upcoming flight, by the way, are used first stages.
The most powerful launcher in the world
If its flight is successful, the Falcon Heavy will become the most powerful active launcher in the world, with a thrust of 22,819 kilo-newton at sea level (for comparison, to the legendary Saturn 5 Was 50% higher thrust force - 34,500 kilonewtons at sea level, a figure that Musk bothered to emphasize on his Twitter page). According to Musk, the launcher will operate at only 92% power on the upcoming maiden flight.
Below are the declared capabilities of the launcher According to SpaceX (The data refer to the maximum capacity of the launcher, which is possible only in a one-shot configuration, in which the first stages consume all their fuel reserves and burn up in the atmosphere):
- Launch to low-earth orbit: 63,800 kg.
- Launch to GTO (orbit beyond geostationary orbit): 26,700 kg
- Launch to Mars: 16,800 kg.
In the multipurpose configuration, the launcher's capabilities will be significantly reduced, as its first stages will have to save part of their fuel reserve for landing. SpaceX did not clearly specify its capabilities in a reusable configuration, but the Space News website Reporting Its launch capacity to the GTO orbit will be reduced to only 8,000 kg in a reusable configuration (a capacity similar to that of a regular Falcon 9, but in a disposable configuration).
At least in its single-use configuration, the Falcon Heavy will be far more powerful than the world's current most powerful launcher, the Delta 4 Heavy, manufactured by ULA, which is jointly owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Delta 4 is heavy Able Launch 28,370 kg to low earth orbit and 13,810 kg to GTO orbit. Needless to say, Delta 4 Heavy is not a multipurpose launcher. Beyond that, its cost appreciated about 350 million dollars for commercial launches, while the cost of launching a heavy Falcon, According to SpaceX, is 90 million dollars.
"set expectations accordingly"
The basic idea of using the first stage also as a side booster is not new, and is used inDelta 4 is heavy. However, the first stage of Delta 4 has only one engine, while the first stage of the Falcon has 9 engines - hence the name "Falcon 9". This means that together with its first three stages - the heavy Falcon has 27 engines. Not even an American launch vehicle did not contain So many engines, and their large number increases the chance of some malfunction.
This is one of the reasons that Musk has emphasized in the past that there is a significant chance that the maiden flight of the heavy Falcon will end in failure. Musk indicated that he understood the problems It is difficult for the company to predict in advance, both how the launcher will react to the strong fluctuations and the many loads that the vehicle will experience during the launch.
"There is a lot of risk that accompanies the heavy Falcon. There is a very high chance that he will not make it to the track. I want to be sure and set expectations accordingly," Musk said said last July "I hope he will get far enough from the launch so he won't harm you. I will see it as a victory, to be honest."
Musk then explained that one of the difficult problems that accompanied the development of the heavy launcher was connecting the first three stages. "At first, it sounds very easy: just stick two [Falcon 9] first stages as side boosters. How hard will it be?" Musk said. "But then everything changes. All the loads change, the aerodynamics change completely, and the vibrations and the acoustics are tripled."
As a result, it was necessary to redesign the central first stage of the launcher. "The amount of load you put on the central core is crazy, because you have two super powerful accelerators that are also pushing the central core," Musk said. "That's why we had to redesign the entire chassis of the central core. It's not like the Falcon 9, because there is so much load on it."
The cargo - Musk's Tesla car
the load it will carry The heavy Falcon on the maiden flight will be rather strange - the personal red Tesla Roadster of Musk, who is also the founder and CEO of the electric car manufacturer.
If it doesn't explode during takeoff, as Musk warned, the car will be launched into orbit near the Red Planet. The orbit will not be truly to Mars, but will be around the Sun and elliptical, with its furthest point from the Sun reaching the distance of the Martian orbit, and its closest point reaching the distance of the Earth's orbit.
It is worth noting that since this is a test flight, which as mentioned may end in failure, SpaceX is unlikely to agree to launch a valuable cargo such as a satellite on such a flight. Spice X Already sent Previously a comical and worthless payload, a wheel of French cheese, on the first test flight of the Dragon spacecraft in 2010.
See more on the subject on the science website:
- SpaceX will launch a Tesla car into orbit near Mars
- SpaceX launched a used Dragon spacecraft, atop a used Falcon 9 launcher
- Elon Musk reveals the way he will pay for his giant Mars rover
- SpaceX launched a used Falcon 9 launcher for the third time - and landed it on a rig in the middle of the sea
- SpaceX plans to launch two space tourists next year for a flight around the moon
