Falcon Heavy is still one of the most ridiculous machines humanity has ever built
• 70 meters tall
• 12.2 meters wide at its base
• 1.42 million kg when fully fueled
• 27 Merlin engines
• More than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff
• Up to 63,800 kg delivered to low-Earth orbit in expendable mode
The rocket is essentially three modified Falcon 9 cores flying together: two side boosters and a strengthened center core
Its first flight in February 2018 launched Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster and Starman into orbit around the Sun
Falcon Heavy has now completed 12 missions
- 12 launches
- 12 mission successes
- Zero mission failures
When the mission profile allows, its two side boosters detach, reverse direction and land vertically within seconds of each other so they can be reused
Three rockets flying as one
Twenty-seven engines producing more than 5 million pounds of thrust and somehow SpaceX made it look routine