SpaceX launches rocket with 24 satellites
SpaceX has launched its heftiest rocket with 24 research satellites. The rocket is also carrying a deep space atomic clock, a solar sail, clean and green fuel, and even human ashes!
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/EZIbdSY5r2
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 25, 2019
The Falcon Heavy rocket blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. It was the third flight of a Falcon Heavy, but the first ordered by the military.
The US Defence Department mission is expected to provide data to certify the Falcon Heavy — and reused boosters — for future national security launches.
It was the military’s first ride on a recycled rocket.
Center core engine shutdown and stage separation confirmed. Second stage engine burn underway pic.twitter.com/wrn5uMmG0L
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 25, 2019
Both side boosters landed back at Cape Canaveral several minutes after lift-off, just as they did after launching in April. But the new core booster missed an ocean platform.
