In a little bit of a surprise, the USSF-52 mission will launch atop the Falcon Heavy no sooner than December eighth from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The USSF-52 mission has been scheduled on and off for quite an extended time on the range schedule but kept getting pushed back attributable to payload delays, now we all know what that payload is, the X-37B. The $130 million USSF-52 contract was awarded to SpaceX in June 2018 by the US Air Force, then generally known as the AFSPC-52 mission and originally scheduled for 2020.
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X-37B after its most up-to-date mission on the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center (Credit: U.S. Air Force)
Previously, the X-37B has gotten its ride to space via the Atlas V (5 times) and the Falcon 9 (1 time). Its most up-to-date flight launched on the Atlas V in May 2020 and spent 908 days orbiting our planet and landed in November 2022. All previous missions launched into low Earth orbit, and while the precise planned orbit is classed, it is probably going the orbit might be a bit higher, benefiting from the Falcon Heavy performance.
There are 2 known operational X-37B orbital vehicles, nevertheless it is currently unconfirmed which vehicle might be flying atop the Falcon Heavy.
As for the Falcon Heavy cores assigned to this mission, Booster 1064 and 1065 might be the side booster and landing back at Landing Zones 1 and a pair of. The middle core is Booster 1084, making its first and final flight, as it can be expended and splash down within the Atlantic Ocean.
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B1064 and B1065 performing a lift back burn through the USSF-67 mission (Credit: Richard Angle)
B1064 and B1065 have each made 4 flights so far, previously launching USSF-44, USSF-67, Echostar 24, and most recently, the Psyche mission for NASA.
SpaceX is currently switching Launch Complex 39A from the Falcon 9 configuration to the Falcon Heavy setup, which generally takes a few weeks a minimum of.
If this launch holds to the schedule, this might be the fifth Falcon Heavy launch of 2023.