SpaceX Misses NASA’s 56 Year Old Record But Provides Spectacular Falcon Heavy Launch Views

After multiple delays, SpaceX's largest operational rocket, the Falcon Heavy, took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida late at night local time yesterday. The launch marked the Falcon Heavy's seventh overall flight and the massive rocket's third flight this year. Falcon Heavy's only flight in 2022 was the first mission for the rocket since 2019, and looking forward, there might be a couple more launches this year and in the next.

Today's nighttime launch provided spectacular visuals of the rocket's two side boosters after they separated from the center stage and landed back on land. The mission was for SpaceX's internet rival EchoStar which provides satellite internet services through Hughes Network systems. Unlike SpaceX's Starlink satellites, which fly at lower altitudes and are much smaller, the EchoStar satellite launched today is the biggest communications satellite ever built. According to the company, when its solar panels are fully expanded, the spacecraft nears the length of a jetliner.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Flawlessly Executes Launch & Provides Spectacular Night Visuals

The Falcon Heavy is simply three Falcon 9 rockets joined together, but as a whole, the system is far more complex to operate and maintain when compared to SpaceX's workhorse. Unlike the Falcon 9, it is also not human-rated, meaning it can not carry astronauts or other passengers to space. However, the rocket carries a powerful punch and can generate more than five million pounds of thrust at peak levels post-liftoff.

Yesterday's launch occurred at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:04 pm local time. It came after SpaceX had tried to launch the Falcon Heavy earlier this week, but the rocket aborted the launch just moments before liftoff. The miss was a downer as it would have led SpaceX to set a new record for the shortest time between two launches from the Eastern range.

The current record sits at one hour and thirty-seven minutes and has been in place for nearly six decades since it was set in 1966 when two rockets part of NASA's Gemini program launched as part of training programs for NASA's Moon missions.

2 of 9

SpaceX shared that a stuck valve on the Falcon Heavy was responsible for the earlier abort and that its rocket was ready to fly yesterday. A night-time launch allowed for all 27 engines of the Falcon Heavy to light up the sky and provide fiery visuals as the rocket blasted off into space. The rocket's sheer power was evident as it throttled up the engines during flight and crossed the sound barrier before reaching the point of maximum stress.

However, even better visuals would come into play as it throttled down the engines. The throttle down made the rocket appear nothing less than a comet in the sky with a deep red flame making up its tail. However, the best visuals, apart from two rockets landing themselves on land, came when the two side boosters separated and ignited a single Merlin engine each for the boost back burn, which provided remarkable footage of their thrust plume expanding against the dark background.

Yesterday's launch was a hefty one as it saw the second stage fly to more than nine thousand kilometers in altitude to deliver the payload. The mission also saw SpaceX expend the center core rocket booster, and the second stage was optimized to retain heat for its longer flight path.

Written by Ramish Zafar