Matthew Nelson
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to lift off June 22 to send 24 payloads into space as part of a Department of Defense-led program that seeks to demonstrate interagency science and technology experiments.
Space Test Program-2 will mark the first time DoD will use the heavy-lift launch vehicle with reused flight hardware for a mission, the Space and Missile Systems Center said Friday.
The company will repurpose a pair of Falcon Heavy side boosters that flew on the Arabsat-6A mission.
SMC collaborates with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and NASA to administer the program for the department.
The STP-2 mission will offer agencies data to help them update communications, propulsion, space environmental monitoring and weather forecasting systems.
The Air Force also seeks to obtain insight into SpaceX's process to recover and refurbish booster technology that can potentially support national security space launch missions in the near future.
