Falcon Heavy facts for kids
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SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center LC-39A with the Arabsat-6A satellite (April 2019).
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| Function | Orbital heavy-lift launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | SpaceX |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Cost per launch |
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| Size | |
| Height | 70 m (230 ft) |
| Diameter | 3.66 m (12.0 ft) |
| Width | 12.2 m (40 ft) |
| Mass | 1,420,788 kg (3,132,301 lb) |
| Stages | 2+ |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO (28.5°) | 63,800 kg (140,700 lb) |
| Payload to GTO (27°) | 26,700 kg (58,900 lb) |
| Payload to Mars | 16,800 kg (37,000 lb) |
| Payload to Pluto | 3,500 kg (7,700 lb) |
| Associated rockets | |
| Family | Falcon 9 |
| Comparable |
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| Launch history | |
| Status | Active |
| Launch sites | |
| Total launches | 3 |
| Successes | 3 |
| Landings | 7 cores landed / 9 attempted |
| First flight | February 6, 2018 |
| Boosters | |
| No. boosters | 2 |
| Engines | 9 Merlin 1D per booster |
| Thrust | Sea level: 7.6 MN (1,700,000 lbf) (each) Vacuum: 8.2 MN (1,800,000 lbf) (each) |
| Total thrust | Sea level: 15.2 MN (3,400,000 lbf) Vacuum: 16.4 MN (3,700,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | Sea level: 282 seconds Vacuum: 311 seconds |
| Burn time | 154 seconds |
| Fuel | Subcooled LOX / Chilled RP-1 |
| First stage | |
| Engines | 9 Merlin 1D |
| Thrust | Sea level: 7.6 MN (1,700,000 lbf) Vacuum: 8.2 MN (1,800,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | Sea level: 282 seconds Vacuum: 311 seconds |
| Burn time | 187 seconds |
| Fuel | Subcooled LOX / Chilled RP-1 |
| Second stage | |
| Engines | 1 Merlin 1D Vacuum |
| Thrust | 934 kN (210,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 348 seconds |
| Burn time | 397 seconds |
| Fuel | LOX / RP-1 |
Falcon Heavy is a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle designed and made by SpaceX. It is inspired from the Falcon 9 vehicle. This increases the low Earth orbit (LEO) maximum payload to 63,800 kilograms (140,700 pounds), compared to 22,800 kilograms (50,300 pounds) for a Falcon 9 Full Thrust, 28,790 kilograms (63,470 pounds) for Delta IV Heavy, 27,500 kilograms (60,600 pounds) for the Space Shuttle and 140,000 kilograms (310,000 pounds) for Saturn V. Falcon Heavy is the world's fourth-highest capacity rocket ever built, after Saturn V, Energia and N1, and the most powerful rocket in operation as of 2020. SpaceX conducted Falcon Heavy's first launch on February 6, 2018, at 3:45 p.m. EST (20:45 UTC). The rocket carried a Tesla Roadster belonging to SpaceX founder Elon Musk as a dummy payload into a path around the sun. The first commercial launch was on 11 April 2019, for Arabsat. It was a success.
Falcon Heavy was designed to carry humans into space, for example to the Moon and Mars, although as of February 2018, it is not certified and there are no plans to use it for crewed missions. It will instead be devoted to launching large satellites or space probes.
Related pages
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy overview page
Images for kids
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SpaceX breaking ground at Vandenberg Air Force Base, SLC-4E in June 2011 for the Falcon Heavy launch pad.
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Maiden launch of the Falcon Heavy
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Falcon Heavy on pad LC-39A
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The Merlin 1D engine
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Twenty-seven Merlin engines firing during launch of Arabsat-6A in 2019
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Long exposure of a night launch, 25 June 2019
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Falcon Heavy reusable side boosters land in unison at Cape Canaveral Landing Zones 1 and 2 following test flight on 6 February 2018.
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See also
In Spanish: Falcon Heavy para niños
