Make it a dozen: SpaceX's Falcon Heavy flight history
Video from the channel Spaceflight Now about Falcon Heavy, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 14:01. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
Spaceflight Now's review of the Falcon Heavy's track record ahead of its twelfth launch, carrying the ViaSat-3 F3 satellite. Its last flight had been Europa Clipper, in October 2024. It includes statements from SpaceX, NASA and Space Force officials.
Historical context
The maiden flight, in February 2018, carried Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster and achieved the first double booster landing at the Cape. In April 2019 Arabsat-6A flew, its center core lost at sea after landing. In June 2019 STP-2 flew for the Air Force, with LightSail 2 as a secondary payload; this time the core did not reach the drone ship. USSF-44 brought the first classified payload and the first direct insertion into geosynchronous orbit. Since then SpaceX has not attempted to recover the center core. In 2023 USSF-67, ViaSat-3 Americas (the first fully expendable mission), Jupiter-3/EchoStar-24, Psyche (the first with NASA Category 3 certification) and the X-37B spaceplane flew. In 2024 GOES-U and Europa Clipper flew.
Key facts
Side boosters B1064 and B1065 were reused across several missions and completed their sixth and final flight with Europa Clipper. In October 2025 the Department of the Air Force published its final environmental impact statement, allowing SpaceX to launch up to five Falcon Heavy missions a year from SLC-6 at Vandenberg. In late 2025 SpaceX reserved Launch Complex 39A for Falcon Heavy and Starship. Planned missions include Astrobotic's Griffin Mission One, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Dragonfly and the Rosalind Franklin rover.