Before anyone else does, CEO Elon Musk warns the public to manage expectations over the upcoming initial launch of SpaceX's new rocket.
Ellon Musk fears rocket crash
CEO Elon Musk acknowledges that SpaceX’s new Falcon Heavy rocket might suffer a crash on the initial launch attempt. The CEO expressed his doubts to NASA ISS program manager Kirk Shireman in an interview conducted during the 2017 International Space Station Research and Development conference in Washington, D.C. The CEO warned that the public should manage their expectations since his guys in SpaceX are not confident that their rocket can make it into orbit on the first try.
The SpaceX rocket is expected to be launched late this year this year. The launch is staged at Florida's Space Coast.
Musk says his only hope is for the rocket to sustain pressure and make it far enough to avoid causing damage to its pad. SpaceX believes being able to send the rocket far enough to prevent any damage is a already huge success.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket is two-stage. It was constructed following the inspiration of the organizations Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 rocket has been making trips to space ever since the year 2010. Falcon Heavy’s first stage in fact is made up by strapping two Falcon 9 stages into a core making the Heavy Rocket more of a Falcon 9 modified booster.
Heavy Rocket is reusable
Similar to its inspiration Falcon 9, SpaceX’s Heavy Rocket is designed to be reusable. The Heavy Rocket is 230-foot-tall. When the Falcon Heavy gets warmed up for launch, its enormous power can carry an impressive amount of weight. The Heavy Rocket can launch with 24 tons when making a geostationary transfer orbit and up to 60 tons at low-Earth orbit.
Its strength makes the Heavy Racket the most powerful rocket after the famous Apollo launcher by NASA.
The Falcon Heavy has been the focus of SpaceX’s development genius in the past couple of years. CEO Musk admits that the work behind Falcon Heavy turned out to be much more difficult that how they originally perceived it to be.
Musk adds that testing many of Falcon Heavy’s features could not be tested on the ground. This brings the challenge of its construction a notch higher. The CEO is firm in his belief that the Falcon Heavy is a great vehicle. But he also believes that bringing it space will be more challenging.
Despite the expected difficulties, SpaceX CEO guarantees that the launch will be exciting. He encourages people to witness the event.
No official launch date has been announced yet. But the CEO suggests that it might take place in September or October.
