A new photo from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shows the company’s new Falcon Heavy rocket on the launchpad as well as its Falcon 9, which is currently prepped to launch the GovSat-1 satellite later today (Jan. 31). The Falcon Heavy is slated to launch Tuesday (Feb. 6).
You can watch SpaceX launch GovSat-1 live here, courtesy of a SpaceX webcast. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT), with SpaceX’s webcast beginning at 4:05 p.m. EST (2105 GMT).
GovSat-1 is a joint venture of the Luxembourg government and the satellite-operating company SES, and it will provide secure communications services. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is launching from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40, within easy viewing distance of Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, where the Falcon Heavy will undergo its first test flight. Launch Complex 39A is a historic launchpad that was used for most Apollo missions as well as space shuttle missions before being leased and renovated for SpaceX’s use.
Besides Pads 39A and 40, SpaceX also launches out of California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 4, and the company broke ground on a private spaceport in Texas in 2014.
SpaceX successfully test-fired the Falcon Heavy’s 27 first-stage engines — divided among three Falcon 9 first stages — on Jan. 24, and on Tuesday, it is set to carry Musk’s Tesla car into orbit around the sun. (This test will demonstrate that the rocket, which will be the most powerful in operation in the world, would be able to put payloads into an orbit intersecting Mars.)
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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https://www.space.com/39556-spacex-rocket-family-elon-musk-photo.html Elon Musk's SpaceX Rocket Family Photo Shows Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9
[bestandroiddoubledinheadunit950.blogspot.com]Elon Musk’s SpaceX Rocket Family Photo Shows Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9
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