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So, last year Elon Musk of SpaceX said the following about the Falcon 9 Heavy H - a 27 engine beast with a cryogenic (second H = hydrogen) 2nd stage, the Raptor.
So....if Saturn V had an LEO throw of 118,000 kg to LEO then this sounds like a single Falcon 9 Heavy H be in about the 50,000 kg + range.
That's 20,000+ kg more than the hydrocarbon F9H's 30,000 kg, which itself is about 7,000 kg more than the massive Titan IV that NASA used for heavy loads after Saturn V: Cassini, spy satellites the size of Hubble etc.
Impressive, but following that Musk had concerns about the money - the development would cost over $1 billion which would have to come out of their launch profits over years.
Well...with the imminent demise of NASA's Ares V heavy lifter Falcon 9 Heavy H is back on the table - the Augustine commission is recommending a commercial heavy lifter and recommended billions to do it.
The other candidate would be the Atlas V Phase II, which would be an even more expensive project that is only now on PowerPoint. F9 Heavy H would only require the development of the cryo second stage. The rest is already being built or is deep in development.
Falcon 9 Heavy - Falcon 9 Heavy H would have a longer cryogenic 2nd stage
"Musk said that the addition of the cryogenic upper stage--creating what he called the Falcon 9 Heavy H... If you can do a couple launches of the Falcon 9 Heavy with cryogenic upper stage, that would give you s sort of Saturn 5 capability."
That's 20,000+ kg more than the hydrocarbon F9H's 30,000 kg, which itself is about 7,000 kg more than the massive Titan IV that NASA used for heavy loads after Saturn V: Cassini, spy satellites the size of Hubble etc.
Impressive, but following that Musk had concerns about the money - the development would cost over $1 billion which would have to come out of their launch profits over years.
Well...with the imminent demise of NASA's Ares V heavy lifter Falcon 9 Heavy H is back on the table - the Augustine commission is recommending a commercial heavy lifter and recommended billions to do it.
The other candidate would be the Atlas V Phase II, which would be an even more expensive project that is only now on PowerPoint. F9 Heavy H would only require the development of the cryo second stage. The rest is already being built or is deep in development.
Falcon 9 Heavy - Falcon 9 Heavy H would have a longer cryogenic 2nd stage