Behold! SpaceX's 1st Falcon Heavy Rocket on the Launchpad (Photos, Video)

[Judi Lynn]

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | January 3, 2018 02:37pm ET

If you needed a reminder that SpaceX is about to debut its huge new Falcon Heavy rocket, here you go.

The company just released some gorgeous photos and a spectacular video of the Falcon Heavy standing at Kennedy Space Center's fabled Pad 39A — the one-time jumping-off point for space shuttle and Apollo moon missions — ahead of its planned liftoff later this month. (SpaceX has not announced a target date yet.)

"With more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff — equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft at full power — Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two," SpaceX representatives wrote on Twitter and Instagram, where they posted the new video. [SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket in Images]

That power comes from a whopping 27 first-stage Merlin engines — three times more than SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has. Indeed, the Falcon Heavy's first stage is essentially three Falcon 9 cores strapped together.


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[pangaia]

1. SPACE-X - Home Of The Whopper !!!