
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch is reportedly set for February 6th - janantala
https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/956964986353528832
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dang
This is an announcement of an announcement. Those are the quintessence of
offtopicness, so please don't post them.

On HN, there's no harm in simply waiting until a thing happens.

[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=%22announcement%20of%20an%20an...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=%22announcement%20of%20an%20announcement%22&sort=byPopularity&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix=false&page=0)

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mabbo
Considering the number of delays, push-backs and holds on this rocket, don't
be surprised if it doesn't. And that's okay- once a rocket is more than a
meter off the ground, it's either going to space or exploding, so caution is
the right trait to have.

All that said, I'll still be watching live whenever it happens. If they pull
this off, it'll open up a lot of new possibilities for the space industry.

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anovikov
Which new possibilities? BFR definitely will; FH seems to be just an
incremental improvement: D-IVH level of capability combined with reusability,
on a much cheaper price - but nothing which would enable doing something which
wasn't done before.

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mactunes
Doesn't it have much higer payload to LEO and GTO though? It's much more than
D-IVH payload if Wikipedia is to be believed:

FH: 63800kg LEO, 26700kg GTO

D-IVH: 28790kg LEO, 14220kg GTO

The Falcon 9 actually comes closer to the D-IVH in expendable mode than the
D-IVH comes to the Falcon Heavy.

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indubitable
The Falcon Heavy not only lifts vastly more (it will be the most powerful
rocket excepting the Saturn V - which has not been in commission since 1973),
but I think understating the scale of price difference is also not really
reasonable.

The Falcon Heavy is looking at a cost of around $85 million. The Delta-4 Heavy
starts at $400 million. Compare price per kg and it's quite insane. For low
earth orbit that's $1,332/kg for a Falcon Heavy and $13,893/kg at the low end
pricing for a Delta-4 Heavy. The Falcon 9 weighs in at $2,684/kg.

Each cut in price opens up possibilities that were not there before. Make it
$1/kg and that'd be rather self evident, but each price decline opens up the
doors for companies and individuals who previously were only being held back
by price.

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anovikov
Not correct calculation, as FH may be $85M only when reusing all 3 cores, for
a big payload penalty.

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Animats
It's been on the launch pad for weeks, and had a successful static test.
Space-X has to launch it soon or tilt it back down and take it away.

Although the Falcon Heavy is almost as big as the Saturn V, the launch setup
is far simpler. It's lifted into vertical position at the pad. No vertical
assembly building, no crawler-transporter. That's a big improvement. Takes
some extra structural strength, which costs some payload, of course.

~~~
JshWright
It's been up and down several times over the past few weeks. It only takes a
couple hours to move it in or out.

The fact that Falcon 9/Heavy only support horizontal integration is a bot of
an issue for some payloads (particularly those with people, or big optics).
SpaceX will be adding vertical integration (the ability to mount the payload
after the rocket is vertical) to its pad at LC-39A.

~~~
ygra
Are they? I was under the impression that crew can be loaded via the Crew
Access Arm with the rocket vertical, but Dragon would still be integrated
horizontally.

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RX14
Dragon likely will be integrated horizontally but some national security
payloads need vertical integration.

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tuxxy
Why do some national security payloads need vertical integration?

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jccooper
They won't say, because they're secret. But it's probably optics or just some
legacy designs that they don't want to qualify for horizontal.

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kilroy123
Can't wait to watch this one.

It will be absolutely amazing to watch 3 boosters come back down to earth and
all land. Even if they don't all land this time, they will one day.

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mikeash
At this point, the landings seem like one of the least likely things to go
wrong. Which is pretty amazing.

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mabbo
I'm a little worried about the two nearly synchronized landings not far from
each other. Any interference between them and... well, we'd get a fireworks
show.

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sandworm101
No doubt they will return via two different paths with a degree of
vertical/temporal separation. Landing them in parrallel is just asking for
trouble.

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bmcusick
Oh MAN this is exciting! And I realize it's the first Falcon launch in some
time where no one is confident it won't blow up. The Falcon 9's record of
flights and landings in 2017 were so consistent it almost started to feel
"normal". But not anymore!

I sure wish I could see this one in person. Maybe one of the later Falcon
Heavy flights once the hype has made the tickets more accessible and
affordable. Heck, last year I was able to get to see a Falcon 9 launch for no
additional cost beyond admission, so maybe it won't even be that long.

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spleeder
What is the best location to watch the launch from?

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alant
Sending ufo over LA night sky again soon?

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cjg_
No, it is launching from Kennedy Space Center.

