Elon Musk announces an early February launch plan for Falcon Heavy
Elon Musk's "week or so" until the Falcon Heavy launch is now looking like it'll be closer to two weeks.
The SpaceX founder confirmed on Twitter that he's "aiming" to have a Feb. 6 launch for the private aerospace company's largest rocket to date. It will lift off from the Apollo launchpad 39A at Cape Kennedy, Musk tweeted.
"Easy viewing from the public causeway."
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News of the Falcon Heavy's hoped-for launch date comes days after the rocket's successful test on Wednesday, at Cape Canaveral. At the time, Musk predicted in a follow-up tweet the a proper launch would happen soon.
The Falcon Heavy is so-named for its ability to launch larger payloads than SpaceX has been able to previously. It's basically three Falcon 9 rockets -- the current SpaceX standard-bearer -- strapped together.
While the added power means it can move heavier payloads into space and out toward distant destinations, such as Mars, the first Falcon Heavy launch is more symbolic. The rocket will contain nothing more than a red Tesla Roadster -- another Musk product -- blasting David Bowie's song "Space Oddity" on its radio.
Wednesday's firing test shouldn't be taken as a surefire sign of success for the Falcon Heavy. As Musk said last July, there's a "real good chance that vehicle doesn't make it to orbit."
The launch timetable is also far from certain. Musk's Saturday tweet is clear enough about Feb. 6 being the "aim," but any number of factors could delay that plan.
Still, this is more concrete confirmation of a launch plan than Musk was willing to share just a few days ago. Assuming nothing changes, we'll all get to see how this Falcon Heavy holds up to the rigors of a full launch in roughly a week and a half.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
