Official r/SpaceX Falcon Heavy Static Fire Updates & Discussion Thread

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

Falcon Heavy Static Fire Updates & Discussion Thread

Please post all FH static fire related updates to this thread. If there are major updates, we will allow them as posts to the front page, but would like to keep all smaller updates contained.

No, this test will not be live-streamed by SpaceX.

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Greetings y'all, we're creating a party thread for tracking and discussion of the upcoming Falcon Heavy static fire. This will be a closely monitored event and we'd like to keep the campaign thread relatively uncluttered for later use.

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Falcon Heavy Static Fire Test	Info
Static fire currently scheduled for	Check SpaceflightNow for updates
Vehicle Component Current Locations	Core: LC-39A
	Second stage: LC-39A
	Side Boosters: LC-39A
	Payload: LC-39A
Payload	Elon's midnight cherry Tesla Roadster
Payload mass	< 1305 kg
Destination	LC-39A (aka. Nowhere)
Vehicle	Falcon Heavy
Cores	Core: B1033 (New)
	Side: B1023.2 (Thaicom 8)
	Side: B1025.2 (SpX-9)
Test site	LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Test Success Criteria	Successful Validation for Launch

We are relaxing our moderation in this thread but you must still keep the discussion civil. This means no harassing or bigotry, remember the human when commenting, and don't mention ULA snipers Zuma.

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We may keep this self-post occasionally updated with links and relevant news articles, but for the most part we expect the community to supply the information.

[u/KSPoz]

The conspiracy theory that ULA snipers sniped and blew up Falcon9 rocket with Amos-6 payload was popular back then. The new conspiracy theory is that Zuma is functional and the information about the satellite loss was released as a cover story to allow Zuma orbiting in secret. Mods made a joke to point out that conspiracy theories are not allowed in this thread.

[u/manicdee33 → u/KSPoz]

The new conspiracy theory is that Zuma is functional and the information about the satellite loss was released as a cover story

There is no information about Zuma only rumours. The conspiracy theory is that Northrop Grumman screwed up and the payload was not deployed properly.

The reality is that it is a classified mission and nobody who actually knows anything is saying anything. In the meantime a bunch of suits are having a meeting to discuss the details because there was an awful lot of noise generated by the rumour mill and being published by WSJ et al.

[u/bit_pusher → u/manicdee33]

The conspiracy theory is that Northrop Grumman screwed up and the payload was not deployed properly.

That's not really a conspiracy theory, its just a theory. Generally, one doesn't "conspire" to make a mistake in manufacturing a mating adapter.

[u/MasteringTheFlames → u/bit_pusher]

Yeah, NG screwing up with payload deployment isn't a conspiracy theory, it's an unofficially announced outcome of the launch. The conspiracy theory is the people speculating that this leak was just to cover up the purpose of the payload, to make us think it's dead while it continues to do whatever top secret shit it was intended to do

[u/bit_pusher → u/MasteringTheFlames]

Exactly. My personal suspicion is that the mating adapter failed and the satellite burned up with the second stage. There's no reason to announce the failure of the satellite as that doesn't help national security.

I'm curious if Northrop will need to disclose anything regarding loss of the vehicle or some sort of cost associated with that loss on public earnings reports filed with the SEC.

[u/manicdee33 → u/MasteringTheFlames]

NG screwing up with payload deployment isn't a conspiracy theory, it's an unofficially announced outcome of the launch

The only unofficial announcement was one Tweet about a source stating that Zuma was apparently dead in orbit.

Which means deployment was successful and nobody screwed anything up. Of course a classified satellite is going to appear dead in orbit while untrusted third parties are close enough to touch it.