SpaceX
Earlier today, at 3:45 PM, EST (12:45 PM, PST), the Falcon Heavy rocket roared to life and soared into sunny skies after flawlessly lifting off from Launch Complex (LC)-39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight was initially delayed from its initial 1:30 PM, EST (10:30 AM, PST) T-0 due to high-altitude wind shear. Once the upper-level wind speeds reached acceptable limits for lift-off, SpaceX gave the 'go' to begin loading propellant onto Falcon Heavy at LC-39A...and it was smooth sailing during the countdown from there. 13 minutes after launch, the maiden flight of the world's newest and most powerful rocket was almost a monumental success. Both previously-flown side boosters safely and simultaneously touched down at SpaceX's twin landing zones near Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and cameras placed around the soon-to-be-interplanetary Tesla Roadster were giving us astonishing footage of the car as its upper stage motor prepared to boost it (and Starman, the Tesla's onboard passenger) onto a heliocentric trajectory that will take the red sports coupe past Mars' orbit.
SpaceX
The only hiccup that occurred during Falcon Heavy's historic first flight was its core booster not landing on a drone ship stationed out in the Atlantic Ocean after launch. According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk a few hours later, two of the booster's three landing engines ran out of igniter fluid during the final descent—causing the rocket to not generate the thrust needed to prevent it from slamming into the ocean at 300 MPH. But with this minor setback aside, SpaceX scored a huge victory successfully launching a heavy-lift vehicle of this caliber on its first attempt. Considering the fact that SpaceX only succeeded twice in five tries to send its Falcon 1 rocket to Earth orbit almost a decade ago, this is definitely something that SpaceX can be proud of as it begins launching operational satellites aboard the Falcon Heavy. The next flight of this vehicle (possibly carrying a U.S. Air Force payload dubbed STP-2, and LightSail, a privately-funded solar sail developed by The Planetary Society...a non-profit space advocacy group) will be several months from now. Here's hoping that the second flight of Falcon Heavy will be almost as flawless and exciting as its first one. It was a great day for rocket science!
SpaceX
SpaceX
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SpaceX
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