Two Falcon rockets returning to the roost on Tuesday morning after launching a military mission into space.
Trevor MahlmannA close-up on the nearest booster burning a single Merlin engine to slow down.
Trevor MahlmannTwo Falcons almost down on the ground.
Trevor MahlmannKicking up some dust.
Trevor Mahlmann
On Tuesday morning, a Falcon Heavy rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center, carrying a pair of satellites for the US Space Force to geostationary orbit.
This was the fourth overall launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket, but it marked the first time that SpaceX invited a handful of photographers to set up remote cameras next to Landing Zone 2, which is located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This is one of two concrete pads where Falcon 9 rockets launched from Florida occasionally land.
Each of the circular landing pads, which measure 86 meters in diameter, was busy on Tuesday morning with the return of a pair of side-boosters from the Falcon Heavy launch. After separating from the core stage of the heavy rocket, these boosters then made a propulsive descent. The first touched down 8 minutes and 15 seconds after launch. The second followed five seconds later.
Trevor Mahlmann, shooting for Ars, was among those invited to capture the moment of touchdown. The official video of the launch and landing is impressive, but Mahlmann’s shots (and video) do a great job of capturing the fire and fury of the rockets as a single engine burns to bring the rocket’s velocity to near zero.
SpaceX will now refurbish these side boosters for reuse on the military’s next Falcon Heavy mission, USSF-67, as early as next January. The center core was not recovered and landed far down range in the Atlantic Ocean.
Listing image by Trevor Mahlmann