The Falcon Heavy will attempt its first ever nighttime launch on 24 June at 8.30pm Pacific Time, or 11.30am on 25 June in Singapore (you can watch the livestream here).
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has made no secret of its ambitious plans to ferry payloads into space or even reach Mars, and the upcoming Falcon Heavy launch will carry a handful of exciting new technologies into space and, wait for it, up to over 100 cremated remains.
Tuesday’s launch marks the third time the Falcon Heavy will lift off, this time with a total of 24 satellites from agencies like NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defence.
This launch is particularly challenging because all of these satellites need to be dropped off to their intended orbits, which comprises three separate orbits over the course of six hours. This means the Falcon Heavy will need to reignite its engine up to four times, leading CEO Elon Musk to tweet that it would be their “most difficult launch ever”.
The new technologies the Falcon Heavy is ferrying into space could potentially become invaluable tools in space exploration in the future. One of the satellites is carrying a small mercury-based atomic clock dubbed the Deep Space Atomic Clock. Existing mercury-based clocks can be as large as a refrigerator, which makes them unsuitable for spaceflight. And while today’s GPS satellites already use smaller atomic clocks, these are based on elements like cesium or rubidium, which can get embedded in the walls of their containers and lead to loss of accuracy over time.<img alt="" data-caption="Photo: SpaceX” data-entity-type=”file” data-entity-uuid=”8a1afa88-f7a4-4708-bbba-57b68a5004a5″ src=”/sites/default/files/inline-images/190624_falcon-heavy_spacex.jpg”/>
Spacecraft Going Full DIY
Picture a star‑ship that doesn’t need a tug‑boat from Earth—it can steer itself. That’s the Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC), a pint‑size marvel that keeps time to the nanosecond even when you’re stuck 2.5 billion kilometres away. If it survives the cosmic blasts, future missions might strap one on board, letting them ditch the slow “wait for a ping” routine.
Why a Tiny Clock is a Game‑Changer
With its own DSAC, a craft could read the signal timing and calculate its own distance—no human help required. The ultimate goal? Autonomous navigation—instant course corrections, no Earth‑hitch.
Green Propellants: Less Toxic, More Fuel
NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) is testing hydroxylammonium nitrate. It’s about 50% denser than hydrazine, so satellites could pack half a tonne more fuel. The trade‑off? It burns at 1,800 °C—twice the heat of hydrazine—so designers must craft heat‑tolerant parts.
Why Not Keep Hydrazine?
- Hydrazine is chemo‑toxic; handling it is a nightmare.
- Green propellant is safer both for the launch pad and for the crew.
LightSail 2: Riding the Solar Breeze
Thanks to the Falcon Heavy, the Planetary Society will launch LightSail 2—a hyper‑light craft that uses the Sun’s photons as fuel. No rockets, no bulk—just a sail and a quest to hug distant stars like Alpha Centauri.
Space‑Age Memorials: Cremated Remains Take a Grand Exit
SpaceX will ferry more than a hundred cremated remains into orbit for the memorial company Celestis. These metal canisters will orbit Earth before re‑entering the atmosphere in a dramatic, fiery finale, giving the departed a blaze of glory they’d only dreamed of on Earth.
