Falcon Heavy
Three Falcon 9 cores strapped together into the heaviest lift SpaceX flies.
Heavy-lift launch vehicle, triple-core configuration · first flight February 6, 2018
Falcon Heavy is, structurally, three Falcon 9 first stages bolted together: a central core flanked by two side boosters, for 27 Merlin engines firing in unison at liftoff. It was, at debut, the most powerful operational rocket in the world, roughly doubling the payload of any other vehicle flying at the time.
The design lets Falcon Heavy reach orbits a standard Falcon 9 cannot — high-energy geostationary transfer orbits, direct-to-Mars trajectories, and the distant orbits needed for national-security payloads. Its debut flight on February 6, 2018 famously carried Elon Musk's own Tesla Roadster toward a solar orbit, with a spacesuited mannequin nicknamed 'Starman' at the wheel.
On a typical mission, the two side boosters separate first and perform a synchronized return, landing side by side at Landing Zones 1 and 2 just a few miles from the pad. The center core, having burned longer and traveled further downrange, either lands on a drone ship or — on the most demanding missions — is expended entirely to maximize payload.
Falcon Heavy flies rarely by design — most payloads fit on a Falcon 9 — but when NASA or the U.S. Space Force need the extra performance, it delivers: it has sent the Psyche asteroid probe and the Europa Clipper spacecraft on their way, launched classified national-security payloads including the X-37B spaceplane, and returned to flight in April 2026 after an 18-month gap to launch the ViaSat-3 F3 communications satellite.
Full technical breakdown
Dimensions
- Height
- 70 m (229.6 ft)
- Width
- 12.2 m (40 ft)three cores side by side
- Core diameter
- 3.7 m (12 ft) each
- Mass at liftoff
- 1,420,788 kg
Performance
- Payload to LEO
- 63,800 kgexpendable configuration
- Payload to GTO
- 26,700 kgexpendable configuration
- Payload to Mars
- 16,800 kg
- Liftoff thrust
- 22,819 kN (5.13M lbf)
Reusability
- Side boosters
- Simultaneous RTLS landing
- Center core
- Drone ship, or expended on demanding missions
- Grid fins
- 4 per booster, titanium
- Structure
- Reinforced octaweb & center-core airframe
Propulsion & fuel
- Propellant
- RP-1 / liquid oxygen
- Booster separation
- T+ ~2 min 30 s
- Crossfeed
- Center core draws fuel from side boosters early in flight
Engines
Merlin 1D
×27845 kN (190,000 lbf) sea level per engine
RP-1 / LOX, gas-generator cycle
Nine per core across three cores; throttled and gimbaled independently for thrust vectoring.
Merlin 1D Vacuum
×1981 kN (220,500 lbf) vacuum per engine
RP-1 / LOX
Single second-stage engine, shared design with Falcon 9's upper stage.
Defining features
Triple-core architecture
Two Falcon 9 first stages act as strap-on boosters to a reinforced center core, more than tripling liftoff thrust while reusing Falcon 9's proven engines and tooling.
Simultaneous booster landings
The side boosters touch down together at Landing Zones 1 and 2 — a synchronized double sonic boom that has become one of spaceflight's most recognizable sights.
Highest-energy missions
Falcon Heavy is SpaceX's vehicle of choice for direct geostationary insertion and deep-space trajectories, including NASA's Psyche and Europa Clipper missions and classified national-security payloads.
Propellant crossfeed capability
The center core can draw fuel from the side boosters during ascent, arriving at staging with more propellant reserved for its own burn — extending reach on the heaviest missions.
Falcon Heavy timeline
- 2011
Announced
SpaceX unveils Falcon Heavy as a triple-core evolution of Falcon 9.
- 2018
Demo flight
Falcon Heavy's maiden launch succeeds, landing both side boosters simultaneously and sending a Tesla Roadster toward deep space.
- 2019
First commercial & DoD flights
Falcon Heavy begins flying paying commercial and U.S. Space Force payloads.
- 2023
Psyche launch
Falcon Heavy sends NASA's Psyche spacecraft on a multi-year journey to a metal-rich asteroid.
- 2024
Europa Clipper launch
NASA's largest planetary science spacecraft launches on a multi-year journey to study Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
- 2026
Return to flight
After an 18-month gap, Falcon Heavy resumes flying in April with ViaSat-3 F3, kicking off a 2026 manifest that includes the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and Astrobotic's Griffin Mission One lunar lander.