SpaceX performs crucial test fire of Falcon Heavy, potentially paving way for launch

Source: The Verge

SpaceX performs crucial test fire of Falcon Heavy, potentially paving way for launch

And Elon confirmed all went well

By Loren Grush Jan 24, 2018, 12:51pm EST

Today, SpaceX simultaneously fired up all 27 engines on its new massive Falcon Heavy rocket — a crucial final test for the vehicle before its first flight in the coming weeks. An hour after the test, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the test was good, and that the Falcon Heavy will launch in “a week or so.” When SpaceX gives an official target day and time, it’ll be the first time a definitive launch date has been given for the rocket’s inaugural voyage, a flight that was initially promised to happen as early as 2013.

Today’s test, known as a static fire, is meant to assess the performance of a rocket’s engines prior to launch. It involves restraining a rocket on a launchpad while igniting its engines to simulate the initial stage of launch — but without the rocket taking off. The rocket was tested at SpaceX’s launch site LC-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where the Falcon Heavy is slated to launch. SpaceX typically does a static fire prior to every launch, but today’s is particularly special: it’s the first time the company has fired up so many engines at once.

It means a launch is finally imminent after years of waiting. First announced in 2011, the Falcon Heavy has always been just beyond the horizon for SpaceX. A couple of rocket failures in 2015 and 2016 forced the company to push the flight. And over the last couple of years, the company has consistently updated the rocket’s target launch date, from late 2016 to early 2017 to late 2017. But now, the Falcon Heavy has at last been assembled and it’s working. This time, the launch date is a concrete plan.

It’s been a struggle to get to this point. SpaceX has been trying to conduct a static fire since the beginning of January, but the test was delayed multiple times over the last two and a half weeks. SpaceX at one point had to stand down while another rocket from the United Launch Alliance took off from the Cape, and the short-lived government shutdown also slowed the process. Most of the other delays occurred without explanation, though testing an entirely new rocket is often slow.

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Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/24/16841580/spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-static-fire-first-launch