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SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket still on track for two launches this year
Spaceflight Now reports that SpaceX’s next two Falcon Heavy rockets – both under contract with the US military – are scheduled to launch as early as July and October 2021.
Known as USSF-44 and USSF-52, both missions will see Falcon Heavy rockets launch unknown US military satellites – one directly to a circular geostationary orbit (GEO) and the other to an elliptical geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The nature and purpose of those satellites will likely remain a mystery up to and after both launches, though their target and destination orbits may allow independent satellite tracking fans to loosely speculate, at minimum.
SpaceX has already shipped all three of USSF-44’s new Falcon Heavy boosters from its Hawthorne, California factory to McGregor, Texas test facilities. At least one of those boosters has also completed static fire acceptance testing in Texas and been delivered to SpaceX’s Florida facilities. Outfitted with a telltale nosecone, that side booster will likely be joined by its twin within the next few weeks – if it hasn’t already.
According to a US military spokesperson that responded to Spaceflight Now’s inquiries, Falcon Heavy’s USSF-44 launch has apparently slipped from a target of “late spring” to no earlier than (NET) July 2021 – a delay of a few weeks to one or two months. Although SpaceX still has two twice-flown Falcon Heavy Block 5 side boosters on hand from the rocket’s back-to-back April and June 2019 launches, the US military requested all new boosters for USSF-44.
Notably, the same official revealed that SpaceX and the US military are targeting October 2021 for Falcon Heavy’s USSF-52, just three months after USSF-44. USSF-44 will be Falcon Heavy’s first launch in an expendable-center-core configuration, meaning that one of the rocket’s three boosters will be intentionally expended. That means that SpaceX will need to complete, test, and deliver another new Falcon Heavy center core before USSF-52 can launch.
SpaceX has spent at least 2-3 months testing each new Falcon booster in McGregor over the last year or so, meaning that it would require a major boost in processing cadence to deliver six new boosters in just 6-8 months. In other words, barring several months of delays, it’s likely that SpaceX and the USSF are currently planning for USSF-52 under the assumption that it will reuse the Falcon Heavy side boosters from USSF-44 or from the rocket’s second and third launches.
Regardless, tentative July and October launch targets make it more likely than not that SpaceX will be able to launch Falcon Heavy twice this year even if booster production, testing, or processing take a bit longer than expected and both missions run into minor delays on the launch pad. USSF-44 will be Falcon Heavy’s first launch in more than two years, a lengthy delay between flights that appears to be unlikely to happen again as SpaceX continues to fill the rocket’s manifest with no fewer than eight launches between now and the end of 2024.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
