By Cheyenne Macdonald For Dailymail.com
Published: 20:04 GMT, 21 March 2019 | Updated: 21:01 GMT, 21 March 2019
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Fourteen months after blasting off for the first time to become the most powerful rocket in use today, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy will take to the skies again in April to complete another critical milestone.
The three-core rocket is slated to launch Lockheed Martin’s Arabsat 6A communications satellite from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida next month.
A tentative schedule suggests Falcon Heavy could run a static test fire as soon as March 31, followed by a launch window that opens April 7.
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Fourteen months after blasting off for the first time to become the most powerful rocket in use today, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy will take to the skies again in April to complete another critical milestone
Height: 70 meters (229.6 feet)
Stages: Two
Boosters: Two
Re-usable Cores: Three
Engines: 27
Payload to LEO: 63,800kg (140,660 lb)
Payload to Mars: 16,800kg (37,040 lb)
Total width: 12.2m (39.9 ft)
Mass: 1,420,788kg (3,125,735 lb)
Total thrust at lift-off: 22,819 kilonewtons (5.13 million pounds)
The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) confirmed the plans in a statement today.
For now, the exact date of launch remains to be determined (TBD), though SpaceX is targeting early April.
‘A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the Arabsat 6A communications satellite, built by Lockheed Martin, from Kennedy Space Center,’ KSC said.
‘The satellite will deliver television, internet and mobile phone services to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
‘Arabsat-6A is part of the two-satellite Arabsat-6G program for Arabsat.’
The launch will be the Falcon Heavy’s first commercial mission, marking an important step forward for its potential use in the future.
