Speaking at the International Space Station Research and Development conference, Elon Musk said that a successful maiden flight for Falcon Heavy was unlikely:
SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk has downplayed the chances of a successful inaugural flight for his Falcon Heavy space launch vehicle, admitting there is a "good chance it would not make it to orbit in its first launch."
Development of the booster rocket, which is powered by 27 engines, has proven to be "way harder than the team initially thought," he told the International Space Station Research and Development conference on Wednesday.
Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful rocket booster in the world, capable of delivering a 54 ton payload into orbit.
Musk said that combining three Falcon 9 rockets together had multiplied vibrations throughout the vehicle making it difficult to test without a launch.
The maiden test flight is due to take place toward the end of the year.
As if watching the inaugural launch of the most powerful rocket since the Saturn V were not tempting enough, how many more people will watch in hopes of seeing it go BOOM!?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 20 2017, @09:40PM (1 child)
Yeah, but his point was, even if you removed the ability to say "well, the escape system will save me", there are people who would take that risk of death in exchange for the certain glory (such as it is) of being the first Dragon pilot.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday July 22 2017, @01:23PM
Except they wouldn't be the pilot, they'd just be a passenger on a suicide trip aboard an autonomous launch vehicle. I suspect the "glory" would be limited to a Wikipedia footnote about how the pointless passenger deaths inspired well-justified regulatory interference that drastically slowed further development.