SpaceX has unveiled its first public photo of the Falcon Heavy rocket that it hopes can help send a manned space flight to Mars by 2018.
The company released an image on Instagram of the rocket being prepped at its factory in Hawthorne, California and said the Falcon Heavy, when it lifts off next year, “will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two.”
The rocket will have the ability to lift into orbit more than 54 metric tons (119,000 lbs.), a mass equivalent to a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel. Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost, SpaceX said.
The unveiling of the Falcon Heavy comes as SpaceX recovers from a Sept. 1 explosion at Cape Canaveral, Florida, that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket carrying an Iridium Communications satellite. SpaceX has delayed launches while it investigated the causes of the explosion, which occurred on the launchpad during fueling.
There are 70 missions worth about $10 billion awaiting launch into orbit by Falcon 9 once the Federal Aviation Administration approves a return to flight, reported the Torrance Daily Breeze.
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