Elon Musk Says Falcon Heavy Rocket Maiden Launch Set For November From Cape Canaveral
By Space Coast Daily // July 28, 2017
'There’s a lot that could go wrong'
BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FLORIDA – SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in an Instagram post that he’s planning to launch the first test flight of his company’s Falcon Heavy rocket in November from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
However, Musk isn’t promising that the rocket’s first test launch will be completely successful.
“There’s a lot that could go wrong,” he said last week.
“I encourage people to come down to the Cape and see the first Falcon Heavy mission,” Musk said at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington, D.C.
“It’s guaranteed to be exciting. There’s a real good chance that that vehicle does not make it to orbit. I want to make sure to set expectations accordingly.”
When Falcon Heavy lifts off, it will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two.
Related Story:VIDEO: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Booster Successfully Completed First-Ever Static Fire Test
With the ability to lift into orbit over 119,000 pounds – a mass equivalent to a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel – Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost.
Falcon Heavy draws upon the proven heritage and reliability of Falcon 9. Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft.
Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars.
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