Florida Today by Rachael L Thomas 4/9/2019
SpaceX touts the Falcon Heavy as the most powerful rocket in use today. The three-booster, 20-story super rocket has some impressive stats, but how does it compare to the great, heavy-lift rockets of the past and those in development for the future?
Here's a look at the world's most powerful rockets:
Falcon Heavy
Country of origin: United States
Dates flown: February, 2018 to present
Height: 230 feet
Max payload to Low Earth Orbit: 140,700 pounds
The most powerful operational rocket today, Falcon Heavy represents a stepping stone to SpaceX's future goal of establishing a colony on Mars.
The rocket packs an impressive 27 Merlin 1D engines and each of its three boosters can produce 1.7 million pounds of thrust.
Falcon Heavy is powered by three reusable boosters that can be landed after separation. During its demonstration flight in February, 2018, two of Falcon Heavy's three boosters were successfully landed at Kennedy Space Center.
Delta IV Heavy
Space Shuttle
Energia
Saturn V
Space Launch System (SLS)
Starship/Super Heavy
New Glenn
More:
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2019/04/09/worlds-most-powerful-rockets-saturn-delta-falcon-heavy-sls-new-glenn/3411587002/
