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WHAT SATELLITES WERE ON BOARD THE FALCON HEAVY LAUNCH?

The Falcon Heavy is carrying satellites for universities, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Planetary Society. 

Six NOAA satellites make up the Cosmic-2 mission, which will monitor the temperature, pressure and moisture of the atmosphere across the tropics.

This data should help meteorologists improve their hurricane and tropical storm modelling.

The rocket is also carrying a deep space atomic clock, a solar sail, clean and green fuel, and even human ashes.  

There is another testing new telescope technologies, and a solar sail project part-funded by the Planetary Society.  

The remains being placed on board the General Atomics Orbital Test Bed, one of 24 satellites Falcon Heavy is carrying.

After the boosters separated safely, the craft began its six-hour mission to deploy the 24 satellites on-board. 

COSMIC-2 

This is a partnership between NOAA, the U.S. Air Force (USAF), NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL).

This six-satellite constellation will provide Global Navigational Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) data. 

This data is collected by measuring the changes in a radio signal as it is refracted in the atmosphere, allowing temperature and moisture to be determined. 

 OCULUS

OTB hosts several payloads for technology demonstration, including the Deep Space Atomic Clock designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NPSat will investigate space weather and support space situational awareness (SSA).

GPIM

The Green Propellant Infusion Mission, or GPIM, is a NASA mission that develops a 'green' alternative to conventional spacecraft propulsion systems.   

CUBE SATS

E-TBEx: Measures distortion of radio signals travelling through the ionosphere. 

PSAT: Supports global amateur radio data relay capabilities to assist students and researchers around the world

TEPCE: Demonstrates the feasibility of using electrodynamic propulsion by deploying a 1 km electrically conductive tether, performing orbit-changing manoeuvres without consuming any fuel

LightSail 2:The Planetary Society’s citizen-funded solar-sailing spacecraft propelled by the Sun

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