In case you missed it, SpaceX conducted its ‘most difficult launch ever’ last evening. The launch involved a Falcon Heavy rocket with two side boosters that had been flown previously, and sitting inside the rocket’s fairlead were 24 different satellites, each of which belonged to various government agencies, such as NASA and the United States Air Force, to name a few.
The rocket ignited its 27 Merlin engines a little bit later than expected, but the primary mission was an overall success. Shortly after launching, the two side boosters landed on solid ground as expected, but the central booster missed its mark, landing in the Atlantic Ocean rather than on the drone ship as planned.
The rocket’s upper stage burned for more than six hours after reaching outer space, carrying the fairlead’s 24 payloads to three separate orbits. Some of those payloads included an experimental fuel, a solar sail, and a deep space atomic clock.
Based on the positive results of the mission, we expect that the United States Air Force could contract with SpaceX again in the future, and as it would seem, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket is starting to make a name for itself.
