SpaceX Launches Falcon Heavy With Rare Double Booster Landing

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S​paceX successfully launched a massive Falcon Heavy rocket, followed by a rare double booster landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Tuesday morning.

Spectators lined beaches in near-perfect weather conditions.

Liftoff was at 9:41 a.m. EDT with the booster landings about eight minutes later. The official 45th Weather Squadron forecast said weather was 90% go.

L​aunches are often scrubbed due to weather or last-minute technical glitches.

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R​eusable boosters are a hallmark of SpaceX launches. Typically, they land on a ship offshore but are sometimes brought directly to land. In this case, two of the boosters will come down in an unusual double landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, adjacent to the space center on Florida's East Coast.

Four sonic booms in a row were heard in the area as the boosters hurtled back to Earth. The third booster was set to fall into the ocean.

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P​revious launches of the Falcon Heavy happened in February 2018, June 2019 and April 2019. Payloads have included a Tesla Roadster and NOAA weather satellites. This time, the rocket is carrying several payloads for the U.S. Space Force.

Hurricane Ian backed up several launches at Kennedy Space Center, including the Artemis 1 moon rocket mission. That's now currently scheduled for liftoff on Nov. 14.

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