Spacex Falcon Heavy First Commercial Launch

Part II, as part one was made few days before this launch, assuming there'll be a 24 hour delay due to bad weather. SpaceX Falcon Heavy First Commercial Lunch SpaceX has pulled it again by launching Arabsat-6A, a 6 ton Satellite in to GTO. This is very first commercial launch of SpaceX Falcon Heavy, something SpaceX has been working on for many years. The Falcon Heavy is world’s most powerful rocket currently in service successfully launched Arabsat-6A, but more importantly successfully landed all 3 Falcon Heavy cores without any hitch. SpaceX has demonstrated capability, a master class in how to execute a very complex and highly demanding rocket launch and retrieval of all 3 cores, something no one has ever done in history of Space flight. Arabsat-6A was launched from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. This was the first ever commercial launch of the satellite using Falcon Heavy, due to commercial sensitive it is not clear how much the customer paid for the launch, however Arabsat, Saudi outfit might have paid around $187.5 million for the launch. Reason for such steep price, Arabsat specifically requested for SpaceX to use brand new Block 5 cores, and launch of each core is around $62,5 million. The fact the launch and landing was a massive success for SpaceX but also the customer, is significant for NASA. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine hinted at possible use of Falcon Heavy for manned mission to the Moon by 2024, and this launch today demonstrates SpaceX capability to execute such a complex flight operation that certifying Falcon Heavy for manned flights wouldn’t take as long as originally thought, if SpaceX can demonstrate successfully at least few more Falcon Heavy launches. SpaceX plans to use Falcon Heavy several more times this year, the next launch is scheduled for June and it’ll be launch for US Air Force – STP-2 Space Test Program-2, deploying cluster military satellites for US Air Force. This will be followed by a Falcon Heavy launch of Inmarsat, UK based satellite operator sometimes in 2nd part of the year, and U.S. AIR FORCE (AFSPC-52) mission scheduled for first half of 2020. There’s few more commercial launches scheduled for Swedish satellite operator Ovzon, that launch is scheduled for late 2020, no specific date yet. SpaceX Falcon Heavy is also scheduled to launch ViaSat-3 for Viasat, Californian based communication satellite operator, the launch is expected to happen in in mid-2021. If Sp aceX can ace all 5 of these commercial launches in what is next 24 months, NASA would be open to suggestions of using SpaceX Falcon Heavy for manned missions to the Moon by 2024, however integrating interim Cryogenic propulsion stage with Falcon Heavy Block 5 rocket will require some re-design, something I am sure Spacex will work around. William Gerstenmaier, NASA deputy Administrator for manned space flight, has some reservations and yet to bless this approach due to a number of technical details. His reservations include the challenge of integrating the Falcon Heavy rocket in a horizontal position and then loading Orion with fuel in a vertical configuration on the launchpad. The Falcon Heavy would also require a larger payload fairing than it normally flies with. This would place uncertain stress on the rocket's side-mounted boosters. However, SpaceX still has 4 full years to work on problem and come with the satisfactory solutions and test these before first manned Moon flight fingers crossed.