SpaceX's new Falcon Heavy rocket at the launchpad edit: Today's the launch date

Edit: Live feed at https://www.spacex.com/webcast




LINK


SpaceX's Falcon Heavy megarocket was rolled out on the launchpad today (Dec. 28), as the company prepares for the rocket's maiden flight, which is scheduled for next month.

NASA confirmed today that the Falcon Heavy has been moved to Launchpad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket will undergo various tests before it takes off; SpaceX has not yet confirmed a launch date.

If all goes well, the Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful rocket in operation, with nearly twice the lifting power of the next-most powerful rocket, according to NASA. It will be the most powerful rocket to launch from Launch Complex 39A since NASA's Saturn V, which sent astronauts to the moon, according to NASA.



It is going to put Elon Musk's Tesla in orbit around Mars.







Falcon Heavy

Falcon Heavy is a reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle being designed and manufactured by SpaceX. The Falcon Heavy (previously known as the Falcon 9 Heavy) is a variant of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and will consist of a strengthened Falcon 9 rocket core with two additional Falcon 9 first stages as strap-on boosters.[8] This will increase the low Earth orbit (LEO) maximum payload to 63,800 kilograms (140,700 lb), compared to 22,800 kilograms (50,300 lb) for a Falcon 9 full thrust. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and would enable crewed missions to the Moon or Mars.