SpaceX showed its Falcon Heavy rocket before the next launch, scheduled for April 18. The private space company, which is also preparing for the first orbital launch of its massive Starship rocket, will send the ViaSat-3 broadband satellite into orbit next week with the help of Falcon Heavy, along with the Arcturus satellite operated by California-based Astranis. The mission starts from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
SpaceX has posted on Twitter an image of the Falcon Heavy, which consists of three Falcon 9 rockets connected together. The photo shows a close-up of the impressive 27 Merlin engines that are used to reach orbit. While the SpaceX Falcon 9 has successfully launched into orbit more than 200 times, the Falcon Heavy will rise only for the sixth time.
Falcon Heavy first entered orbit on February 6, 2018. The first ever flight of a massive launch system sent Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster and a mannequin in a spacesuit called Starman into space. Just 8 minutes after this historic launch, SpaceX landed two carriers on landing pads at Cape Canaveral for the first time simultaneously.
In November 2022, the Falcon Heavy was launched again after a three-year pause. The last two launches were connected with secret payloads for the US space forces.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy was the most powerful operational rocket until NASA lifted its Space Launch System (SLS) along with the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission. However, SpaceX is likely to regain the championship crown soon, along with the first orbital launch of Starship, which may take place next week, on April 20.
Earlier we reported on how the launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy was seen from the ISS.
According to Everydayastronaut.
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