SpaceX Falcon Heavy USSF-44 mission, Screen capture/Youtube/SpaceX
SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch of the USSF-44 mission to a geosynchronous Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida was successfully completed today. Following booster separation, Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters completed landing at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2).
Falcon Heavy’s last launch was in 2019- the rocket’s actual condensation trails or contrails were viewed from space from NOAA’s GOES East satellite. The USSF-44 mission carried military satellites onboard.
Dubbed the world’s most powerful rocket, Falcon Heavy is known for lifting heavy payloads using its powerful engines:
Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb) Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy.
Falcon Heavy 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.