SpaceX completes secret mission USSF-67 for U.S. Space Force - Falcon Heavy puts military satellite into orbit

On January 15, SpaceX made a rare launch of a huge Falcon Heavy rocket. The services of the aerospace company were used by the United States Space Force.

Here's What We Know

SpaceX completed the mission USSF-67, in which it launched into orbit a satellite for the U.S. military and several cargo. As for the satellite, we are talking about the Continuous Broadcasting Augmenting SATCOM 2 (CBAS-2) spacecraft. It is placed on the geostationary orbit (35,700 km) and plays the role of a communications repeater for the military.

Falcon Heavy also sent the Long Duration Propulsive ESPA (LDPE)-3A payload unit into space. It can carry six small satellites simultaneously. As part of the USSF-67 mission, five of the six cells were reserved for the United States Space Force.

Falcon Heavy consists of three stages. The rocket's upper stage was used to put cargo into orbit. But the whole process was not shown until the end, because SpaceX had to stop broadcasting at the request of the U.S. military.

Interesting fact: Falcon Heavy, with 27 Merlin engines, was the world's most powerful active rocket. In 2022, that title went to Space Launch System (SLS), which sent the Orion spacecraft on a trip around the moon as part of the Artemis I mission. The most powerful rocket is expected to be Super Heavy in 2023. It is equipped with 33 Raptor engines that provide 7,257 tons of thrust.

Source: SpaceX