
Debut of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket now planned early next year - mpweiher
https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/11/28/debut-of-spacexs-falcon-heavy-rocket-now-planned-in-january/
======
unspecified
There's still hope that they will make their first static test fire in
December, though! This will be their first time lighting all 27 engines, so it
could be very exciting.

A FH static fire can only be done on the pad: there is no test stand big
enough to do it.

~~~
SEJeff
And by exciting, do you mean a high probability of a RUD?

~~~
unspecified
I don't know about "high", but there's at least two new things happening that
jump out:

* staggered start, the engines are started in pairs on the order of 100s milliseconds apart, so 13 chances for an unbalanced engine start

* vastly increased acoustic and vibration shock, I really wish I could hear the noise in person (from a long way away)

~~~
stcredzero
[http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Disaster_Area](http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Disaster_Area)

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netinstructions
The Techcrunch article just references the Engadget article
[https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/30/spacex-falcon-heavy-
laun...](https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/30/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-
delayed-2018/)

And the Engadget article just references an aviation week article (paywalled)
[http://aviationweek.com/space/falcon-heavy-debut-
slips-2018](http://aviationweek.com/space/falcon-heavy-debut-slips-2018)

There's a lot more (non paywalled) information here:
[https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/11/28/debut-of-spacexs-
falco...](https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/11/28/debut-of-spacexs-falcon-heavy-
rocket-now-planned-in-january/)

~~~
dang
Ok, we've changed to that last link from
[https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/30/spacexs-first-falcon-
heavy...](https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/30/spacexs-first-falcon-heavy-launch-
will-now-take-place-in-2018/). Thanks!

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allenz
"At first it sounds real easy, you just stick two first stages on as strap-on
boosters" \--Musk

This made me laugh. I think it belongs on shitelonsays.com.

~~~
King-Aaron
With enough struts, I could see it working. You might lose a few Kerbals in
the process, but you know.

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Zardoz84
Anyone don't think that two simultaneous touchdowns and a third later would be
awesome ? I really like to see the vids of it!

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briga
It would seem that Elon's personal business model is an inversion of the
"under-promise, over-deliver" dictum. I wonder when it will catch up to him.

~~~
stcredzero
When what you deliver is still fantastic, people will forgive you for the pie
in the sky promises.

~~~
briga
Sure, it's just hard to take any of his dates seriously when they're
consistently wrong. I love the guy, but he tends to stretch himself a bit
thin.

~~~
SOLAR_FIELDS
My theory is that the public date announcements are actually a bit of a
perverse incentive to motivate his employees to work longer hours to meet the
arbitrary date specified.

~~~
Udik
And himself. Sometimes you'd never start a project if you thought "it'll take
me years".

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kinkrtyavimoodh
It's a bummer, but it was kinda expected. Let's hope we get to see it in Q1
2018!

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DiThi
The FCC license (or was it FAA?) expires mid January, so it's probable they'll
still try to launch before then.

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shmerl
What's the ETA for their methane engine (Raptor)?

~~~
nkoren
Raptor won't fly on the Falcon, so it depends on the arrival of the BFR. Elon
wants that to be doing Mars missions in the 2022 window, so test flights would
have to precede that by some time. Construction of the first BFR is due to
start around Q2 next year; when it gets in the air is anybody's guess.

~~~
Tuxer
There is still a good chance they might do a FH Raptor-powered second stage :)

~~~
nkoren
A higher-impulse second stage on the Heavy would make sense in payload terms,
but have you seen anything from SpaceX indicating that they actually are
thinking about doing this? My understanding of their design philosophy is that
they prioritise the operational efficiencies of only having one type of engine
and one type of propellant to worry about on the pad.

~~~
greglindahl
SpaceX's initial money from the Air Force for Raptor involved the possibility
of a new Raptor-powered FH upper stage. There's no sign that such a stage is
still planned (or was ever seriously considered, really.)

~~~
nkoren
Huh, I'd forgotten about that -- thanks.

Yeah, I doubt it was seriously considered. Probably just didn't want to tell
the Air Force what they were _really_ planning to use the Raptor for. Can't
say I blame them!

