Feel the power of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket test in new video
SpaceX is marching ever closer to launching a brand new, huge rocket for the first time this summer.
A new video released by the Elon Musk-founded spaceflight company shows a test firing of one of the boosters that will be used for a Falcon Heavy rocket launch.
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The "side booster" will eventually be strapped onto the main stage of the Falcon Heavy to help give it the extreme power it needs to fly heavy payloads to orbit and beyond.
Static fire test of a Falcon Heavy side booster completed in McGregor, TX last week. This booster previously launched Thaicom 8. pic.twitter.com/nWrNCXtu13
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 25, 2017
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy is designed to be the company's most powerful rocket yet. In total, the rocket will be outfitted with two side boosters and a main booster.
This is the second Falcon Heavy test video released this year. The company showed off a test of its core Falcon Heavy stage in another video put out earlier this month.
The booster tested in Texas last week has already been to space.
Falcon Heavy is this times three. One way or another, launch is guaranteed to be exciting ... https://t.co/FPUNALj0Hd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 25, 2017
SpaceX used this booster to launch the Thaicom 8 communications satellite to orbit in May 2016.
The company landed the booster back on a drone ship floating in the ocean after sending the payload on its way.
Image: spacex
SpaceX has big plans for the rest of the year. The company is gearing up for its first Falcon Heavy launch this summer and it plans to launch multiple Falcon 9 missions in the second half of 2017.
The company also aims to launch two people on a circumnavigation of the moon in 2018. In 2020, SpaceX is aiming to send its first robotic mission to Mars.
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