SpaceX Readies First Falcon Heavy Launch for Paying Customer
The flight will open up competition for big commercial satellite launches and national security missions.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing to launch Falcon Heavy—its massive, heavy-lift rocket—for its first paying customer, more than a year after its debut demonstration mission in February 2018.
Last year’s initial Falcon Heavy launch was a spectacle thanks in part to its test payload: Musk’s cherry-red Tesla Roadster with a mannequin passenger, dubbed Starman, sitting in the driver’s seat. This time SpaceX will be carrying a payload for Saudi Arabia’s Arabsat, a satellite services provider.
Falcon Heavy will rumble aloft as soon as Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after wind scuttled an attempt to fly on Wednesday. Scores of fans and tourists have flocked to the Florida Space Coast for the event, which will be broadcast live on SpaceX’s website.