SpaceX Launches USSF-44 Mission Atop Falcon Heavy Rocket

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from Pad 39A  at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Tuesday November 1 at 1341 UTC, amid thick fog at the launch pad. The Heavy carried two classified payloads toward geostationary orbit (about 22,000 miles above Earth) for the United States Space Force's USSF-44 mission.

Very little is known about USSF-44's two payloads. One has been identified by name: TETRA-1, which was built by Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing subsidiary. According to the company's website, "TETRA-1 is a microsatellite created for various prototype missions in and around geosynchronous Earth orbit." Little is available about TETRA-1's larger companion payload.

Falcon Heavy consists of three of the company's modified Falcon 9 first-stage boosters strapped together. At liftoff, all 27 of the Falcon Heavy's first-stage Merlin engines ignited with 64 metric tons of thrust to lift the big rocket off the pad. About 2.5 minutes after liftoff, the launch vehicle's two side boosters separated to perform synchronized boost-back burns and begin their return flight to Cape Canaveral. This marks the 150th and 151st successful landings of orbital flight rockets.

USSF-44 was the first launch and landing of The Heavy's side boosters, which will be prepared for re-flight on a future U.S. Space Force mission later this year. This is its first launch since June 2019, a flight that gained the rocket the proper Space Force certifications it needed for this mission.

Falcon Heavy's status as the world's most powerful rocket in operation, may, fall soon to NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, which is scheduled to launch the agency's Artemis 1 moon mission on Nov. 14. SLS itself will lose the distinction to SpaceX's Starship, which will be the most powerful rocket ever flown when it comes online.

Starship's first orbital test flight could happen before the end of the year. SpaceX recently surpassed Boeing to become NASA's number 2 vendor.

WATCH SpaceX's launch of the USSF-44 mission