
On January 15, SpaceX made a rare launch of its huge Falcon Heavy rocket. Aerospace company services
What is known
SpaceX completed the USSF-67 mission, in whichlaunched a satellite into orbit for the American military and several cargoes. As for the satellite, we are talking about the Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM 2 (CBAS-2) spacecraft. It is located in geostationary orbit (35,700 km) and serves as a communications relay for the military.
lift off! pic.twitter.com/oMFOyojOqj
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 15, 2023
Falcon Heavy also sent a block into spacePayload Long Duration Propulsive ESPA (LDPE)-3A. It can simultaneously carry six small satellites. As part of the USSF-67 mission, five of the six cells were reserved for the needs of the United States Space Force.
Drone shot of Falcon Heavy's side boosters landing at LZ-1 and LZ-2 pic.twitter.com/JfYRWDIi1j
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2023
Falcon Heavy consists of three stages.The upper stage of the rocket was used to launch the cargo into orbit. But the whole process was not shown to the end, since SpaceX had to stop broadcasting at the request of the US military.
Falcon Heavy launches USSF-67 to orbit pic.twitter.com/htJfgM0tdE
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2023
Interesting fact:The Falcon Heavy, with 27 Merlin engines, was the world's most powerful operational rocket. In 2022, this title passed to the Space Launch System (SLS), which, as part of the Artemis I mission, sent the Orion spacecraft on a journey around the moon. Super Heavy is expected to become the most powerful rocket in 2023. It is equipped with 33 Raptor engines that provide 7257 tons of thrust.