The rocket system, consisting of three Falcon 9 boosters strapped side by side, lifted off from a SpaceX launch pad, with two Space Force satellites and a group of smaller satellites in orbit. The Space Force did not provide details about its satellites and asked SpaceX to end the launch live stream early without showing their deployment. The mission, the first Falcon Heavy launch since June 2019, had been delayed for years by the Space Force, according to SpaceX officials. The rocket’s 2018 debut sent a red sports car from Elon Musk’s other company, Tesla, into space as a test payload. Tuesday’s mission marked the first use of the rocket by the Space Force, a US military branch established under former President Donald Trump to oversee many of the Pentagon’s defense activities in space. WATCHES | SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy rocket for first time since 2019 and lands two boosters
SpaceX is launching its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time since 2019
SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Tuesday, carrying a payload for the US Space Force. About three minutes after launch, Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters separated from the rocket’s main stage in sync about 29 kilometers above the ground, diving backwards for a supersonic free fall toward land. Minutes later, the pair of boosters, each about five stories tall, reignited their engines and landed almost simultaneously on adjacent concrete slabs, prompting thunderous applause from engineers inside SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, a live stream of company. The nuclear booster did not attempt to land and used all of its fuel to launch the satellites further into space. SpaceX and CEO Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur whose universe of high-tech companies now includes social media giant Twitter, have focused in recent years on developing Starship, a larger and fully reusable rocket that will succeed eventually the company’s Falcon fleet. SpaceX hopes to launch Starship into orbit for the first time in December, NASA officials said Monday.
