- SpaceX launched its mega Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time in more than three years, hoisting satellites for the military and then nailing side-by-side booster landings back near the pad.
- The rocket system, consisting of three Falcon 9 boosters strapped side-by-side, took off from a SpaceX launch pad, with two satellites from the Space Force and a group of smaller satellites bound for orbit.
- The Space Force did not provide details of its satellites and requested that SpaceX end its launch live stream early without showing their deployment.
- The rocket system, representing three Falcon 9 boosters strapped side-by-side, lifted off at a SpaceX launch pad.
- The rocket’s two side boosters were due to land in synchrony on adjacent concrete slabs along Florida’s east coast roughly eight minutes after liftoff.
- The Heavy carried a handful of classified payloads toward geostationary orbit for the U.S. Space Force on a mission called USSF-44.
- The mission, the first Falcon Heavy launch since June 2019, had been delayed for years by Space Force, according to SpaceX officials.
- The rocket’s debut in 2018 sent a red sports car from Elon Musk’s other company, Tesla, into space as a test payload.
SpaceX launches first Falcon Heavy Mission in Three years
