Another rocket by SpaceX, Falcon Heavy, was raised on the pad at the Launch Complex 39 at NASA Kennedy Space Center. Later on, the rocket was returned to the hangar as SpaceX was preparing for its static fire test. The tests will take place by the end of January. In the test, all 27 Merlin engines on the rocket’s three cores will be ignited simultaneously for the first time. Engines are expected to produce 5.1 million pounds of thrust at the lift-off. This will make Falcon Heavy more powerful than any other rocket flying in the world currently.
Falcon Heavy is expected to take a maiden flight at the end of January or start of February. The California based spaceflight company recently released a video by a drone and some high-quality images of the new rocket. As per Elon Musk, the Falcon Heavy will be launching a first-generation Tesla Roadster to Mars. The car will play David Bowie’s Space Oddity on its journey. Photos of the roadster being loaded in the rocket were published a few days ago. It looks like SpaceX plans to run the car on Mars surface.
After the launch, SpaceX will land all the cores of Falcon Heavy and two side boosters simultaneously on the handing pads at Cape Canaveral.
