SpaceX Launches Next Falcon Heavy Mission: Why Elon Musk Finds This 27-Engine Rocket 'Scary'

SpaceX‘s latest launch this week involved the Falcon Heavy rocket, dubbed “scary” by its CEO Elon Musk.

What Happened: The rocket delivered the ViaSat-3 Americas, Astranis’s first MicroGEO satellite, and Gravity Space's GS-1 satellite to a geostationary orbit from Florida on Sunday. The ViaSat-3 Americas mission was initially scheduled for April 26 but was rescheduled multiple times citing severe weather conditions before launch on Sunday.

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Why It Matters: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had previously termed the Falcon Heavy rocket as “scary” during a review. “I love that rocket, but it's scary. So many state changes post liftoff,” Musk said.

Falcon Heavy draws upon the design of SpaceX’s popular Falcon 9 rocket. It has three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores and can lift about 64 metric tons.

The 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff — equivalent to eighteen 747 aircraft — according to the SpaceX website. The rocket, which had its first test flight in 2018, has had six launches in total thus far.

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