The Falcon Heavy on Launch Pad 39-A (SpaceX)

Unless you have been living under a rock (or have just not been a big follower of space news), it would be hard to be unaware of the Falcon Heavy maiden flight scheduled to launch on NET February 6, 2018. Following a successful static fire test — the most powerful engine test ever performed at KSC — the official launch date was announced and tickets at Kennedy Space Center went on sale, eventually selling out of most of their ticket options (as of this writing, the website indicated that the “Closer Launch Viewing” tickets were still available). Expectations are that this will be the most watched launch from KSC since the final launch of the Space Shuttle (STS-135, July 8, 2011).

On February 2, 2018, the FAA issued the official launch license for the demonstration flight. The launch license indicates that the Falcon Heavy will leave the pad and proceed due east to deliver “the modified Tesla Roadster to a hyperbolic orbit” and then return the two side boosters to the landing pads just south of the launch facility and the central booster to the automated landing ship at sea. Incidentally, this official statement from a government agency should finally put to rest the last of the doubters that don’t believe that Elon’s Tesla Roadster is really the payload for the demonstration flight.

This “modified Tesla Roadster” will be taking a long journey (SpaceX)

Another note of interest is that this orbit is described as “hyperbolic”. In space terminology, a hyperbolic trajectory is an orbit around an object that has enough energy to escape that object’s gravitational pull. In the case of this launch, the object in question is the planet Earth. A successful deployment of the roadster payload will put the roadster into an elliptical orbit around the sun with the Earth’s orbit at one end of the ellipse and Mars’s orbit at the other end. Contrary to many misguided articles, the roadster will not be “going to Mars” or “landing on Mars”. In effect, the roadster will be constantly travelling from Earth to Mars and back, perpetually missing both by a millions of miles.

Representation of an Earth Mars orbit without rendezvous (JPL)

The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful launch vehicle currently in operation and is second only to the retired Saturn V in total payload mass to orbit capability. As will be demonstrated during the maiden flight, it has the ability to throw payloads on interplanetary missions and, as such, is also capable of performing lunar missions. It also has the ability to deliver US Government payloads to critical reference orbits that are vital to US national security, something that only ULA’s Delta IV rocket has been able to do until now.

Payload to Low Earth Orbit comparisons (SpaceX)

So with of these capabilities, what does the Falcon Heavy really mean for the industry? This is a subject of some debate. Eric Berger of Ars Technica writes, “the Falcon Heavy may already have passed its prime even before its first flight”. He has a point. The Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX’s current work horse launcher, has dramatically improved since the Falcon Heavy was first introduced in 2011 and can now lift a staggering 23 metric tons to LEO. This has left industry analysts to wonder what market is available for the Falcon Heavy that the Falcon 9 can’t already service.

The Verge’s Loren Grush also discusses the matter. She indicates that, “SpaceX could soon start launching what the company’s Falcon 9 can’t: heavier national security satellites, large habitats and telescopes, or even humans to deep space.” But the main customer for Falcon Heavy, at least in the near term, may be NASA.

Artists depiction of crewed SLS rocket (Boeing)

The Falcon Heavy does, in fact, offer a dramatically lower cost alternative to the Space Launch System (SLS) currently being constructed. In addition, now that Falcon Heavy has been completed, the time to build a new FH will be measured in months, rather than years, enabling far more than the 2 flights max per year that the SLS is expected to perform and for far less than the estimated $1B per flight the SLS is expected to require.

While there is justifiable excitement in the prospect of a return of humans to the Moon and commercially available options for interplanetary transport, this excitement is generally only apparent within the circles of the space industry, space reporters, and space fans. The general public is still fairly out of touch with even the basics of all things space.

Agent D with Agent K in Men In Black (Amblin Entertainment)

Many people bemoan that we stopped the Apollo/Saturn V program. Even Elon Musk, noted for his pinpoint focus on Mars colonization, has stated that we “should have a moon base by now and sent astronauts to Mars.” But the promise of life in space, in stations, the moon, and beyond was never founded on something that people could personally relate to. It was always too big and distant. The moon program was, despite Kennedy’s inspiring moon speech, in reality a national security demonstration intent on proving technological capabilities to the United States’s political and military rivals.

Beyond Apollo, there was no mission that people could relate to, especially when everything space related was highly dependent on political whims and the slow-to-change military defense industry. The promise of the Space Shuttle to bring cheap and rapid space flight to the masses was quickly soured by the realities of cost-plus pricing and scope creep in the requirements for the launch vehicle and its missions.

In order for space to become a viable reality for the general public, it has to be a real part of life. People relate to things that they can personally experience. Give them something that they can touch, smell, taste, see, or hear and they will internalize that experience and truly believe in it, especially if they can relive it often. Give them something monumental to experience and they will have a fire lit within them that won’t easily die. This is what the space industry needs to deliver.

Certainly the prospect of delivering a car into space is unique, exciting, and can truly provide a concrete experience for a person. Imagine going into a Tesla showroom to see a Roadster and have someone explain to you that one of those cars is currently on its way towards Mars. However, recent and upcoming launches will be bringing space even more down to Earth for the general public through the launch of interactive VR Satellites, artificial stars, and sculptures in space.

During the “Still Testing” launch of their Electron rocket from their private launch facility in New Zealand, RocketLab included within the fairing a secret payload of their own. Dubbed the “Humanity Star”, the small satellite (1m tall) is a geodesic sphere of 65 highly reflective panels. The satellite orbits the earth every 90 minutes and will be visible at least once by everybody on the planet (weather permitting, naturally) during its 9 month stay in orbit.

Peter Beck, founder of RocketLab, stated that “[his] hope is that everyone looking up at the Humanity Star will look past it to the expanse of the universe, feel a connection to our place in it and think a little differently about their lives, actions and what is important.” He wants people to have that sort of personal experience, however small, that connects them with each other and with the universe beyond.

Artist rendition of the Overview 1 VR Satellite (SpaceVR)

A similar concept, albeit from the other direction, proposed by San Franciso based start up SpaceVR would allow people to don virtual reality head gear and view space from low earth orbit as if they were actually there. Originally slated to be flown on the CRS-12 mission to the ISS, the satellite will be deployed via one of the ISS mounted NanoRacks CubeSat Deployers into LEO.

While updated information was not available at the time of publication, as of November 2017 the company was still determining a launch date (they were not aboard the August 2017 CRS-12 flight). When they do launch, users will be able to look down on earth from above in an immersive VR experience that may even give them a small taste of the “Overview effect” experienced by lunar astronauts and perhaps gain a new perspective on this planet.

Trevor Paglen: Orbital Reflector

Another upcoming, and very surprising, launch is the Orbital Reflector by Trevor Paglen. This satellite will arguably be the first free-floating, private sculpture in space (The 3D-Printed ‘Laugh’ gets the acclaim for the first major artwork made in space). This sculpture, scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will be stowed inside a CubeSat for launch. Once in LEO, the CubeSat door will open and the diamond shaped sculpture will inflate from within. Similar to the Humanity Star, this satellite will be visible from the ground as a bright new star in the sky. The purpose of the installation is to get the general public “to consider our place in the universe, and to re-imagine how we live together on this planet.” The Orbital Reflector is expected to launch sometime in the summer of 2018, coinciding with a Smithsonian exhibition of Trevor’s work, and will deorbit several weeks later.

Artist rendition of Falcon Heavy sending passengers to the moon (NASA Space Flight)

While the future of the space industry is bright and full of hope, such hope has been floated before, only to sink due to a lack of foundation. SpaceX, RocketLab, and Blue Origin are helping to make hope (and landed boosters) float. However, the bigger transformation and the one that will ultimately solidify space into the general conciousness is the newly growing markets for space based art and interactive experiences that transform LEO and beyond from ‘Space’ into ‘Place’ and reignite the fire for mankind’s future among the stars.