SpaceX's three-core Falcon Heavy rolls out to KSC launch pad
Emre KellySpaceX's flagship Falcon Heavy launch vehicle emerged from a Kennedy Space Center hangar on Thursday, marking another milestone ahead of the premiere launch that will secure its position as the most powerful rocket in the world.
Teams took the morning to roll out and lift the three-core, 27-engine rocket to the nearby historic pad 39A, which has been modified to host the rocket's first-ever launch sometime next month.
But first, the company plans on performing a static test fire, or brief firing of its Merlin main engines, before the end of the year. If successful, SpaceX said it will launch a few weeks later, likely in mid-to-late January.
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Encapsulated in the rocket's nose cone, however, isn't a typical payload: CEO Elon Musk is sending his red 2008 Tesla Roadster to deep space as part of the demonstration flight. Expect David Bowie's "Space Oddity" to be playing on the all-electric sports car's sound system before launch, he said.
When the 40-foot-wide Falcon Heavy lifts off, its 5.1 million pounds of thrust will make it the most powerful rocket in the world – and the most powerful to launch from pad 39A since the space shuttle program, which saw its final launch in July 2011.
After liftoff, all three of its 156-foot-tall boosters are expected to descend for landings – the two side cores at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Landing Zone 1, and the center core on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
That means Space Coast spectators can expect a doubling of the dramatics typically involved in a Falcon 9 landing, including twice the sonic boom energy when the boosters cross the speed-of-sound threshold.
Falcon Heavy promises to lift heavier payloads to higher orbits, which could lead to more lucrative contracts for SpaceX. The company advertises crewed trips to the moon or Mars as being within its capabilities, too.
Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook at @EmreKelly.
By the numbers: Falcon Heavy
- Height: 230 feet
- Width: 40 feet
- Cores: Three Falcon
- Engines: 27 Merlin
- Thrust: More than 5 million pounds at liftoff
- Payload to low Earth orbit: 140,000 pounds
- Landing Legs: Installed on all three cores