Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Seven years have passed since the Falcon Heavy rocket had its first big launch in 2018. But even today, watching it take off still feels exciting. Every time it flies, people from all around the world stop and watch. This rocket shows how far spaceflight and private space companies have come.
Falcon Heavy is not like SpaceX's Falcon 9, which launches very often. In 2024 alone, Falcon 9 had 132 launches. But Falcon Heavy only launched two times that whole year. And it hasn’t launched yet in 2025. That makes each Falcon Heavy flight feel very special. Now that it’s already mid-2025, many people are wondering when it will fly again. The good news is, another Falcon Heavy launch is coming soon.
After Falcon Heavy sent the Europa Clipper spacecraft to space in October 2024, it is now preparing for its next mission. It is planned to launch in December 2025. This time, Falcon Heavy will carry something called the Griffin lunar lander. Griffin is part of a mission called Griffin Mission One. It will take a special rover named the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or Viper, to the Moon.
The Griffin lander will target the Moon’s south pole, where the Viper rover will explore for 100 days to search for water ice. This marks NASA’s first attempt to measure lunar ice from the surface, which could support future astronauts and fuel production for deep space missions.
Falcon Heavy is scheduled to fly Griffin Mission Two, which could happen in 2026. NASA’s choice to use Falcon Heavy instead of the Vulcan Centaur for these Moon missions likely came down to a few key points.
First is cost. Falcon Heavy usually costs between 90 million and 150 million United States dollars per launch, depending on the mission. Vulcan Centaur and other heavy rockets from ULA, like the Atlas 5, often cost over 100 million and sometimes more than 200 million dollars.
Seven years have passed since the Falcon Heavy rocket had its first big launch in 2018. But even today, watching it take off still feels exciting. Every time it flies, people from all around the world stop and watch. This rocket shows how far spaceflight and private space companies have come.
Falcon Heavy is not like SpaceX's Falcon 9, which launches very often. In 2024 alone, Falcon 9 had 132 launches. But Falcon Heavy only launched two times that whole year. And it hasn’t launched yet in 2025. That makes each Falcon Heavy flight feel very special. Now that it’s already mid-2025, many people are wondering when it will fly again. The good news is, another Falcon Heavy launch is coming soon.
After Falcon Heavy sent the Europa Clipper spacecraft to space in October 2024, it is now preparing for its next mission. It is planned to launch in December 2025. This time, Falcon Heavy will carry something called the Griffin lunar lander. Griffin is part of a mission called Griffin Mission One. It will take a special rover named the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or Viper, to the Moon.
The Griffin lander will target the Moon’s south pole, where the Viper rover will explore for 100 days to search for water ice. This marks NASA’s first attempt to measure lunar ice from the surface, which could support future astronauts and fuel production for deep space missions.
Falcon Heavy is scheduled to fly Griffin Mission Two, which could happen in 2026. NASA’s choice to use Falcon Heavy instead of the Vulcan Centaur for these Moon missions likely came down to a few key points.
First is cost. Falcon Heavy usually costs between 90 million and 150 million United States dollars per launch, depending on the mission. Vulcan Centaur and other heavy rockets from ULA, like the Atlas 5, often cost over 100 million and sometimes more than 200 million dollars.
