SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy mega rocket on Tuesday for the first time in more than three years, lifting satellites for the military and then nailing side-by-side propulsion landings near the platform.
Dense fog surrounded NASA’s Kennedy Space Center when the rocket blasted off in mid-morning. The crowd at the launch site couldn’t even see the platform three miles (5 kilometers) away, but they heard the roar of the 27 first stage engines.
The two side thrusters retracted two minutes after takeoff, returned to Cape Canaveral and landed side by side, just seconds apart. The center stage was discarded at sea, all of its energy needed to carry the Space Force satellites into their intended extra-high orbit.
This was SpaceX’s fourth flight of a Falcon Heavy, currently the most powerful rocket in use. The first, in 2018, launched SpaceX boss Elon Musk’s red Tesla convertible; the next two heavy launches followed in 2019, lifting satellites.