SpaceX Falcon Heavy To Launch First Mission In 18 Months

InnovationScienceSpaceX Falcon Heavy To Launch First Mission In 18 MonthsByEric Mack,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Eric Mack is a reporter covering science, sustainability and space.Follow AuthorApr 28, 2026, 04:14pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) weather satellite Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U (GOES-U) lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, June 25, 2024. The United States on June 25 launched a new satellite expected to significantly improve forecasts of solar flares and coronal mass ejections — huge plasma bubbles that can crash into Earth, disrupting power grids and communications. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the satellite into orbit took off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:26 pm (2126 GMT), the US space agency announced. (Photo by Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesSpaceX is set to launch Falcon Heavy, its big booster rocket setup, for the first time since October, 2024 on Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That mission carried NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, bound for deep space.This week, the triple-booster vehicle is carrying a new ViaSat commercial broadband satellite. It was originally set to liftoff on Monday, but poor weather scrubbed the attempt. After setting the large communications satellite on a trajectory towards a geosynchronous transfer orbit, Heavy’s side boosters will attempt to land back at Cape Canaveral while the central booster will be disposed of in the Atlantic. Heavy launches in the past have been a spectacle of power and precision, producing more thrust than any other vehicle currently in commercial o...