SpaceX delays Falcon Heavy's first commercial launch
Pesky Florida weather sets the historic flight back -- but only a little.
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, the world's most powerful rocket, is being readied for its first ever commercial launch, but unfavorable weather conditions have pushed back the launch -- by a day.
According to a tweet by SpaceX on Monday, the second ever flight of the mammoth Falcon Heavy, is now on track to be launched on Wednesday, April 10. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 3:35 p.m. PT. The SpaceX YouTube channel will carry that one live, should all go as planned.
Now targeting Falcon Heavy launch of Arabsat-6A on Wednesday, April 10 – weather forecast improves to 80% favorable
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 8, 2019
The Falcon Heavy famously carried a Tesla Roadster to orbit on Feb. 6, 2018. It is the most powerful rocket currently in use, generating a huge amount of thrust thanks to its 27 engine configuration. Visually it looks like three Falcon 9 rockets stuck together, but Elon Musk , SpaceX CEO, has previously mentioned how much work went into developing the beast of a spacecraft.
The Falcon Heavy's second ever launch will blast off from Pad 39A, the same pad that SpaceX's Falcon 9 lifted off from when ferrying the Crew Dragon capsule to the ISS back in March. It will be carrying Saudi Arabia's Arabsat-6A, a 6,000 kilogram (approx. 13,227 pound) satellite that will provide telecommunications access across the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Should all go well, at least one other Falcon Heavy launch is planned for this year.
SpaceX currently plans to retrieve all three of the Falcon rockets that make up the Heavy, a feat it could not achieve during Heavy's first launch because the core booster missed the drone ship that was designed to capture it and slammed into the Atlantic Ocean.
