SpaceX

SpaceX Might Land their Falcon Heavy Center Core Booster Back on Earth

Science

SpaceX is known for landing their rocket boosters back on earth and reusing them. There are some failed landings in the ocean, but that didn’t stop the company from progressing and develop the Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the spacecraft in the high-orbit. Now, the company is planning to launch the Falcon Heavy with the three boosters and land the central booster back on earth. This mission is quite risky as the Center booster is most massive and very hard to land as they did with other lighter versions of their rockets.

After reopening of the Federal Government, SpaceX filed for the license with FCC and FAA for their upcoming launches, which could be the Falcon Heavy launch. According to the license filings, the Falcon Heavy rocket core stage will land on the Mother ship almost 1000 KM away, indicating the posting of satellites or the spacecraft in a High Orbit. The flight will be the longest as this is the first time the boosters will land that far away from the launch site.

Also, the FCC and FAA filings revealed the launch date of the falcon heavy, which is no earlier than 7th March 2019. There is no launch scheduled before 7th March, but it might be delayed further due to logistical and technical issues. Currently, the company is transporting the side boosters, core stage, first stage, and the Payload Fairing from the Californian Factory to the Test range in Texas. The same filings revealed the details about the flight trajectory and the assumed speed. The main stage of the rocket will take it to the velocity of 3.5 km/s before the Main Engine cut off, which is way better and faster than the other rockets. After the MECO, the second stage burn will start, and the main boosters will begin their journey back on earth.