2023 SpaceX lights up the Florida sky with Falcon Heavy launch 1-15-2023 at 17:56 p.m. ET

SpaceX lights up the Florida sky w/Falcon Heavy launch Story by Amy Thompson • 1/15/2023 9:07 PM

Following a three-year hiatus, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket celebrated its second successful launch in two months, lifting off Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:56 p.m. ET and carrying two satellites to geostationary orbit. Spectators on Florida’s Space Coast were treated with not just a twilight launch, which is known for producing cool views thanks to some atmospheric effects, but also a double landing of the Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters back at Cape Canaveral roughly 8 minutes after liftoff. Sonic booms crackled across the sky when the boosters touched down. The Falcon Heavy’s center core was discarded in the ocean and the two recovered boosters will be refurbished and flown again. The massive rocket, essentially three of SpaceX’s Falcon rockets strapped together, is designed for heavy payloads. Powered by 27 Merlin 1D engines, the Falcon Heavy launched two satellites as part of a semi-classified mission for the United States Space Force, code USSF-67. In 2020 SpaceX was awarded $316 million for the launch.