SpaceX's Most Powerful Rocket 'Falcon Heavy' Launches... Conducting US Space Force Secret Mission

First Commercial Launch in 3 Years Since 2019 'STP-2' Mission
Scheduled to Perform Space Object Tracking and More... Detailed Information Not Disclosed

The rocket 'Falcon Heavy' made by SpaceX was launched for the first time in three years. Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Sung-wook] The private deep space exploration rocket 'Falcon Heavy,' produced by space exploration company SpaceX, was launched for the first time in three years. The 'Falcon Heavy' is the most powerful rocket currently in operation by SpaceX.

According to CNN and others on the 1st (local time), SpaceX's Falcon Heavy was launched for the first time in three years, carrying a secret satellite for the U.S. Space Force. SpaceX announced that it successfully launched the Falcon Heavy rocket carrying two Space Force satellites at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on that day.

The 'Falcon Heavy' is scheduled to carry out part of the U.S. Space Force's secret mission named 'USSF-44.' The Space Force stated that this mission is related to activities such as tracking objects in space. However, no further detailed information was disclosed. SpaceX broadcasted the rocket launch live but stopped the feed before payload separation at the request of the Space Force to maintain confidentiality.

The Falcon Heavy's first commercial launch began in April 2019 with the launch of Saudi Arabia's satellite 'Arabsat-6A.' This launch successfully landed the three first-stage boosters, including the core booster, on a drone ship and achieved satellite separation.

The second commercial launch took place in June 2019 with the U.S. Air Force's space experiment project mission 'STP-2.' Falcon Heavy carried 24 payloads at once and performed a complex mission by deploying them into three different orbits. However, only two of the three reusable rockets that make up Falcon Heavy were successfully recovered. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described it as "the most difficult launch so far."

Currently, the paying customers using Falcon Heavy are the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA. NASA plans to use this rocket to build a future space station orbiting the Moon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.