SpaceX Falcon Heavy launched into space. Should private companies be in the Space Race?

 

By Brittany DaSilva

 

On February 6, 2018, the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket was launched into space, making it the second heaviest rocket to ever leave Earth. The rocket lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Falcon Heavy rocket is now recognized as the world’s most powerful booster since NASA’s Saturn V. The boosters used are also designed to be reusable heavy-lift rockets, returning to Earth at three predetermined landing sites. Only two of the three returned undamaged, while the other failed to properly fire and crashed, damaging a SpaceX drone ship positioned in the Atlantic Ocean.

 

The Falcon Heavy will eventually be able to launch payloads of up to 141,000 pounds into orbit. That is about twice the payload capacity of the United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy rocket, which is the Falcon Heavy’s closest competitor. This was a test flight for the Falcon Heavy, carrying a very unique payload: a red Tesla Roadster, with a mannequin dressed in a spacesuit sitting in the driver’s seat of the convertible.

 

The private spaceflight company SpaceX was founded by its CEO and lead designer, Elon Musk. In addition to SpaceX, Musk is also the co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, as well as chairman of SolarCity. Needless to say, Elon Musk is a wealthy and powerful individual, with a net worth of approximately $20.1 billion as of February 2018. Musk estimated that SpaceX invested about $500 million into the development of the Falcon Heavy rocket.

 

With the success of its first test flight, SpaceX has two commercial satellite missions for the Falcon Heavy scheduled for 2018, with one launch being for the U.S. Air Force. Since the Falcon Heavy boosters are reusable, SpaceX hopes to reduce the costs involved in heavy-lift space missions. The Falcon Heavy is only one of a long list of launch services and projects funded by SpaceX. NASA is already a frequent user of SpaceX’s launch services, using their smaller Falcon 9 rockets for Dragon cargo delivery missions.

 

Private companies like SpaceX are now making a name for themselves in the Space Race. Some of the biggest advancements in technology and design are being made by these private companies, with Musk already considering the development of a launch system larger than the Falcon Heavy. He hopes to one day be able to launch hundreds of people into space at once using what he calls the Big Falcon Rocket, which can be used for around the world transportation. If we hope to colonize Mars or explore deep space within the next 100 years, it seems that we need the contributions of these private companies to make these dreams a foreseeable reality.