"Falcon Heavy" SpaceX Rocket Is The Most Powerful Rocket

Falcon Heavy by SpaceX is the most powerful rocket ever. Founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk announced that the Falcon Heavy is a derivative of company's Falcon 9. The launch of the new rocket will be in 2013 or 2014. The rocket will be used to carry space machinery like satellites or interplanetary aircraft into the LEO aka Low Earth Orbit about 200km above the ground. Falcon Heavy beats its nearest competitor 'US Space Shuttle' by huge margin. It can carry nearly twice the payload of US Space Shuttle and more than double the payload of Delta IV Heavy.

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Credit: SpaceX

Following chart provides historical data of world's heavy lift vehicles -

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Source: SpaceX

Falcon Heavy builds on the proven flight technology of the Falcon Rocket Series by SpaceX. The first stage of the rocket will comprise of 9-engine cores. These will be used to provide the initial thrust to the rocket at the time of launching. The Merline engines which will be used to power the rocket are currently being tested at SpaceX facility at Texas. The technical overview of the Falcon Heavy is as follows -

Mass to LEO (200 km, 28.5 deg): 53,000 kg (117,000 lb)
Overall Length: 69.2 m (227 ft)
Width (body): 3.6 m (12 ft) x 11.6 m (38 ft)
Width (fairing): 5.2 m (17 ft)
Mass on liftoff: 1,400,000 kg (3,100,000 lb)
Thrust on liftoff: 17 MN (3,800,000 lbf)

The developers of the rocket confirm that the rocket has been built for maximum reliability and can operate under multiple engine failure conditions. It can be safely use for critical missions. Any non-functioning engine will be automatically cut-off and its load will be shared by other engines which will also last longer in case of emergency. This rocket is the first in the history to feature propellant cross-feed from the side boosters to the center core.

The rocket is very cost effective and reliable at the moment. SpaceX claims that the rocket can save US Defence Department $1billion annually. The rocket costs between $85 million - $125 million.

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