Spacex is seeking federal permission for two new areas for landing spent rockets.
The new landing areas are needed to prepare for the possibility of landing three rockets – all within minutes of each other.
“SpaceX expects to fly Falcon Heavy for the first time later this year,” the company said in a statement responding to questions. “We are also seeking regulatory approval to build two additional landing pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. We hope to recover all three Falcon Heavy rockets, though initially we may attempt drone ship landings” at sea
The Falcon Heavy will launch with three first-stage rocket boosters, and SpaceX hopes to return each booster to separate landing zones at its complex simultaneously.
Currently the Spacex Heavy is scheduled for a November launch
Can’t wait to see all three cores of Falcon Heavy come back for landings! First two will be almost simultaneous. https://t.co/ryMiewZM4L— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2016
Really tempting to redesign upper stage for return too (Falcon Heavy has enough power), but prob best to stay focused on the Mars rocket— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2016
Landing pic.twitter.com/dRWGyyTtCH— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2016
SOURCES- Twitter, Orlando Sentinal
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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