{"id":62501,"date":"2018-02-07T05:32:58","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T05:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/elon-musks-falcon-heavy-rocket-launches-successfully\/"},"modified":"2018-02-07T05:32:58","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T05:32:58","slug":"elon-musks-falcon-heavy-rocket-launches-successfully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/elon-musks-falcon-heavy-rocket-launches-successfully\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk’s Falcon Heavy rocket launches successfully"},"content":{"rendered":"
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US entrepreneur Elon Musk has launched his new rocket, the Falcon Heavy, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

The mammoth vehicle \u2013 the most powerful since the shuttle system \u2013 lifted clear of its pad without incident to soar high over the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

It was billed as a risky test flight in advance of the lift-off.<\/p>\n

The SpaceX CEO said the challenges of developing the new rocket meant the chances of a successful first outing might be only 50-50.<\/p>\n

With this debut, the Falcon Heavy aims to become the most capable launch vehicle available. <\/p>\n

It is designed to deliver a maximum payload to low-Earth orbit of 64 tonnes \u2013 the equivalent of putting five London double-decker buses in space.<\/p>\n

Such performance is slightly more than double that of the world's next most powerful rocket, the Delta IV Heavy \u2013 but at one third of the cost, says Mr Musk.<\/p>\n

For this experimental and uncertain mission, however, he decided on a much smaller and whimsical payload \u2013 his old cherry-red Tesla sports car.<\/p>\n

A space-suited mannequin was strapped in the driver's seat, and the radio set to play David Bowie's classic hit Space Oddity on a loop.<\/p>\n

If all phases of the flight are successful \u2013 and that will not be known until at least 6.5 hours after lift-off \u2013 the Tesla and its passenger will be despatched into an elliptical orbit around the Sun that reaches out as far as the Planet Mars.<\/p>\n

The Falcon Heavy is essentially three of SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 vehicles strapped together. And, as is the usual practice for SpaceX, all three boost stages \u2013 the lower segments of the rocket \u2013 returned to Earth attempting controlled landings.<\/p>\n

Two came back to touchdown zones on the Florida coast just south of Kennedy; the third booster was due to settle on a drone ship stationed several hundred kilometres out at sea.<\/p>\n

During the launch, the video signal from the drone ship was lost, so the fate of the third booster is not yet clear.<\/p>\n

The upper-stage of the Falcon Heavy, with its Tesla cargo, began what hopefully will be an escape trajectory to Mars' orbit.<\/p>\n

That requires the engine on the upper-stage to fire on three separate occasions, with the third and final ignition only occurring after a long cruise phase.<\/p>\n

Mr Musk warned before the flight that this was one of the phases he was most concerned would not work properly. The upper-stage has to pass through a concentrated region of radiation above the Earth, known as the Van Allen Belts, and this could interfere with electronic systems. <\/p>\n

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Having such a large and powerful rocket should open up some fascinating new possibilities for Mr Musk and his SpaceX company. These include launching:<\/p>\n