From the launch site Pad 39A, Kennedy Space center held a successful launch of super-heavy carrier rocket Falcon Heavy. It was the first missile launch, equipped with 27 engines. And apparently, all is going as planned. The system withstood the maximum load moment at takeoff, and after a while two side accelerator first stage was separated from it and made a simultaneous landing in the same Kennedy Space center.
In order to see whether all goes well, will take some time. The fact that the main stage of the carrier rocket, it was decided to put on the barge immediately prior to planting the camera, apparently under the influence of powerful vibrations started engines in a single stage blacked out. I should add that this has happened before under the landing of spent stages of carrier rockets, the Falcon 9.
Six hours after launch, located on low earth orbit spacecraft with electric Roadster Elon musk on Board will be released on the trajectory to Mars and will start its engines. Last week Elon Musk once again commented that the risk of failure still exists at any stage of the flight.
However, the successful launch of the Falcon Heavy could become a giant leap for the development of space flight. At the moment, the Falcon Heavy is the most powerful working rocket carrier in the world. SpaceX has already received several orders for the launch of its heavy rocket, but now that the first test launch was successful (and let’s hope that the rest of the mission will also go smoothly), the company will likely be able to attract even more potential customers interested in using the Falcon Heavy.
The launch can be viewed from 30 minutes:
SpaceX successfully launched a super-heavy rocket, the Falcon Heavy
Nikolai Khizhnyak