Arabsat 6A Satellite launched
On Thursday, before it took off, the Falcon Heavy rocket stood on a Florida launch pad and packed the energy equivalent of a tactical nuclear weapon.
SpaceX's reusable designs make the Falcon Heavy an appealing way to get large payloads into space.
What is all the more awesome about this engineering effort, however, is that the world's largest rocket does not just launch into space. Much of the focus this year is on the first flight with humans on board: SpaceX and Boeing Co. have contracts with NASA to ferry American astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew program.
SpaceX accomplished its primary mission of launching the Arabsat-6A telecommunication satellite late this afternoon from famed Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Falcon Heavy is created to loft into low-Earth orbit up to 140,000 pounds - more than any American rocket has been able to carry since NASA's Saturn V, which took Apollo astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and '70s. The SpaceX launch, which also happened to be the Heavy's second-ever flight, delivered a Saudi Arabian satellite into space. "Three for three boosters today on Falcon Heavy, what an unbelievable accomplishment". The side boosters from yesterday's launch are slated to be reused for that mission.
Falcon Heavy is not expected to fly almost as often as its smaller counterpart, which has completed more than 20 missions since last February.
Musk threw his own convertible into space past year, which is reportedly in a solar orbit around Mars.it happens to still be the same regardless of some less shine and a loss of a few chips here and there.
NASA's Saturn V rockets, used for the Apollo moon shots, are the all-time launch leaders so far in size and might.
SpaceX typically launches Falcon 9 rockets.