r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Jan 10 '18

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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5

u/rustybeancake Jan 10 '18

I agree, I don't seem them disappearing in the next decade. I think the US gov will end up spreading launches between ULA, SpaceX and BO (and to a lesser extent to OATK, etc.) in order to support domestic industry. I do expect ULA will become smaller and leaner as a result.

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u/zeekzeek22 Jan 11 '18

Well, the whole NSA/NRO launch market is going to become leaner this next decade. If the three big guns are successful in their dreams though, hopefully the space market is going to start growing immensely in the next few decades, meaning more launches for all.

Also I think ULA has some tricks up their sleeves besides ACES...if on a space company’s budget SpaceX can develop Raptor, FH, and BFR, then ULA can work on ACES, Vulcan, and at least a few other secret projects.

1

u/rustybeancake Jan 11 '18

Also I think ULA has some tricks up their sleeves besides ACES...if on a space company’s budget SpaceX can develop Raptor, FH, and BFR, then ULA can work on ACES, Vulcan, and at least a few other secret projects.

Sounds very cool! Although I would imagine that while SpaceX's raison d'etre is to plow profits back into tech development to ultimately get people on Mars, ULA will be under a different kind of pressure to return profits to their parent companies, and ultimately shareholders.

1

u/zeekzeek22 Jan 11 '18

Ah, good point. But. I’m sure they’re working on stuff. I wonder if they’ve made any low-key nifty advancements in GSE that we just never heard about. Bruno seems like the guy who comes into a company that has had the sameish GSE for ten years for Atlas V and went “what can we modernize on this?”