For the sixth time SpaceX has successfully used its heavy carrier, the Falcon Heavy, this time in an unprecedented configuration. For the first time, the recovery of the boosters, neither of the two lateral ones, nor of the central stage was foreseen. The satellite operator ViaSat has expressly requested the use of the Falcon Heavy in this configuration, in order to save the propellant on board the satellite and lengthen its operational life. In addition to ViaSat’s satellite, there were two other small satellites on board: Arcturus, also called Aurora 4A, and G-Space 1.
Take-off took place at 02:26 on May 1 from the historic pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center, several days later than initially scheduled. This delay also caused the departure of the four astronauts to be postponed Ax-2 mission, which is now expected no earlier than May 17. This is due to the need to reconfigure pad 39A at the launch of the Falcon 9 with the Crew Dragon capsule, as well as performing the static fire test before take-off, to verify that everything is working properly.
In the days before SpaceX accomplished two more missions. Starlink-3.5 left on April 27, with 46 other satellites in the constellation. Subsequently, twelve minutes after midnight on April 29, two satellites of the O3b mPower constellation took off, also used to make the internet accessible from orbit. Within 3 days and 10 hours, SpaceX completed three different missions, thus maintaining an average of one launch every approximately 4.1 days.
New generation of telecommunications satellites
According to the latest public data released in March 2022, the cost of using the Falcon Heavy in this configuration is $97 million. Initially the price of the heavy carrier was 90 million, but in 2022 there was a price increase to adjust for inflation.
The main payload is the satellite called ViaSat-3 Americas, with a mass of about 6000 kg and was developed on Boeing’s 702MP satellite bus. It is the first of a group of three satellites that will serve to provide telecommunications services globally. With the ViaSat-3 Americas, coverage will be provided in North and Central America. The first operation of this satellite, carried out shortly after the release from the second stage of the Falcon Heavy, will be the opening of the two enormous solar panels which, once deployed, will make the satellite reach a length of about 44 meters. These will allow it to generate 25 kW of electrical power.
Another important element is the reflector, which will be used for transmissions. It will be one of the largest ever used in space and will provide the ViaSat-3 with a capacity of 1 Terabits per second. The arm at the end of which the reflector sits was developed based on one of the arms of the James Webb Space Telescope’s parasol.
The Astranis satellite, called Arcturus, will also provide telecommunications services, but with much smaller dimensions, around 300 kg. It will cover a smaller area than ViaSat’s satellite, focusing on Alaska, with a capacity of 7.5 Megabits per second.
G-Space 1, on the other hand, is a 22 kg CubeSat, used for Earth observation and the maintenance of permits to use the Ka and Ku bands by Nusantare.
Falcon Heavy Fully Expendable
The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters had flown before; these are the B1052 and the B1053, both already used to form two Falcon Heavy in 2019. B1053 has not flown since then, while B1052 was used as the first stage of a Falcon 9. With this latest launch, B1052 flew for the eighth time, becoming the wing booster of a Falcon Heavy most used.
The central core, on the other hand, was new, a necessity due to two factors. Firstly, the central element has some characteristics that differentiate it from a regular Falcon 9, because it has a reinforced structure to also withstand the stresses of the lateral boosters. Furthermore, the attempts to recover the central core that took place with previous missions have never been successful. Only during the Arabsat-6A mission was the central core reentry successful, but the booster fell off the barge shortly after landing.
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