SpaceX, on Wednesday 24th January 2018, for the first time test-fired its Falcon Heavy rocket during a launch pad experiment at Kennedy Space Centre. The main aim of the experiment was to conduct a trial run for the engines before they blast off in the near future.
Falcon Heavy is a reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle being designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and would enable crewed missions to the Moon or Mars. When it launches, the Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful lift vehicle in the world. Falcon Heavy is about 70m tall and is designed to carry a maximum load of 64 tonnes in low-earth orbit.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, first mentioned Falcon Heavy in a September 2005 news update. Due to lack of funds, the project got frozen in 2012. SpaceX plans to launch the Falcon Heavy’s first demonstration flight in February 2018. Elon Musk said that the dummy payload on its maiden flight will be his personal red Tesla Roadster.
Falcon Heavy hold-down firing this morning was good. Generated quite a thunderhead of steam. Launching this week or so.” Elon Musk tweeted. Wednesday marked the first time SpaceX fired all 27 Merlin engines of Falcon Heavy at once. A date for launch hasn’t been finalized yet.
