After government re-opened, SpaceX sought two Falcon Heavy permits

Enlarge / The two Falcon Heavy booster landings in 2018 were something to behold. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann for Ars Technica)

The reopening of the federal government means that launch companies can once again file for launch licenses with various agencies, and it seems that SpaceX took full advantage of this fact on Monday. The company sought three permits from the Federal Communications Commission (which can be searched here).

One of the permits concerns the next International Space Station cargo supply mission for the Dragon spacecraft, CRS-17, which had been scheduled for March. This permit for "Dragon capsule telemetry, tracking, and command" indicates that the mission will now fly no earlier than April 12.

Of potentially more interest are applications for two permits related to the launch of the next Falcon Heavy mission, Arabsat 6A, and the landing of two side boosters and the central core. These applications indicate that the launch of the Arabsat 6A mission will occur no earlier than March 7 from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. This is consistent with existing estimates for the current launch date.

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