The Falcon Heavy will make many strong announcements to signal its presence.
It will be a feast for the senses when a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off on Tuesday morning, November 1.
Tuesday at 9:41 a.m. EDT (13:41 GMT), the Falcon Heavy is slated to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the USSF-44 mission for the American Space Force. With the help of SpaceX, you may watch it live right here on Space.com or by contacting the business directly.
When the Falcon Heavy blasts off the launch pad and its three first-stage boosters quickly return to Earth after liftoff, there will be a lot to take in. Both audio and visual elements will be present in this action.
"Please be aware that there will be two sonic booms after the launch tomorrow morning. This will happen shortly after launch as the boosters touch down at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's landing zones 1 and 2 "Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's official Twitter accounts, Space Launch Delta 45, posted on Monday. (Opens in new tab) (Oct. 31).
The Centre core stage of the Falcon Heavy normally tries its luck on a SpaceX drone ship at sea. All three of the Falcon Heavy first-stage boosters (which are modified versions of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket) are capable of achieving vertical touchdowns shortly after liftoff.
However, because USSF-44 is such a demanding mission in terms of fuel, the core booster on Tuesday's launch will ditch into the sea rather than make an attempt at a landing. A few payloads are being sent to geostationary orbit, which is located roughly 22,000 miles (35,400 kilometer's) above the surface of the globe. The lengthy trip will consume up the majority of the core booster's propellant.
There isn't much information available regarding the USSF-44 spacecraft, which will be the main cargo on Tuesday. Tetra-1, a tiny technology-demonstrating satellite created for the Space Force by the Boeing subsidiary Millenium Space Systems, is also a part of the mission. According to EverydayAstronaut.com, USSF-44 will likely also loft a number of smaller CubeSats.
The Falcon Heavy will launch USSF-44 on just its fourth occasion overall and for the first time since June 2019. Delays in the delivery of payloads listed on the rocket's manifest are mostly to blame for the lengthy gap between launch attempts. For instance, USSF-44 was initially scheduled to launch in late 2020, but the primary satellite wasn't ready.
The most potent rocket in flight right now is the Falcon Heavy. However, the appearance of two launchers far more powerful is imminent. On Nov. 14, NASA will launch Artemis 1, the maiden mission of its massive rocket known as the Space Launch System. Additionally, SpaceX is getting ready for the launch of Starship, the enormous craft it is building to transport people and goods to Mars and the moon, on its first orbital test flight.