Falcon Heavy making only second flight, but it’s already changing the game

Enlarge / The three cores of the Falcon Heavy are mated in SpaceX processing facilities in Florida. (credit: SpaceX)

The Falcon Heavy made a rousing debut a little more than a year ago, launching from Florida and sending a cherry red Tesla Roadster beyond the orbit of Mars. At the time, no one was quite sure how SpaceX would market the world’s most powerful rocket, which did not seem to fit particularly well into any niche, especially after the company’s own Falcon 9 rocket saw significant performance increases.

But in the 14 months since the large rocket’s inaugural flight, Falcon Heavy has had a remarkable effect on the nation’s space policy. In three key areas—national defense, science, and human exploration—the Falcon Heavy rocket has to some extent changed the discussion. As it turns out, the demand was there for a low-cost, heavy lift booster.

Falcon Heavy’s most immediate and tangible impact has been with national security missions. In June, only a little more than four months after the vehicle’s debut flight, the U.S. Air Force certified the rocket to fly its reconnaissance and communications satellites into orbit. The Air Force also announced that it had selected the Falcon Heavy to launch its classified Air Force Space Command-52 satellite later in 2020. The rocket offers the military access to all of the desired orbits for its spacecraft.