Elon Musk's Space X launches secretive Zuma spacecraft

Elon Musk's Space X launches secretive Zuma spacecraft to an undisclosed location as the tech titan announces the 'world's must powerful rocket,' Falcon Heavy, will launch later this month

 

Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 8pm Sunday
• A secret satellite codenamed Zuma lit up the Florida sky as it traveled to an unknown destination
• Within two minutes of the launch the ship disengaged its rocket booster which then returned to the station
• Falcon Heavy 'megarocket' will launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida later this month, Musk said
• The rocket boasts 27 engines and three separate re-usable cores that will return to Earth after liftoff

 Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.SpaceX launched its 'Zuma' mission at 8pm on Sunday, weeks after it was initially scheduled to occur in November, CNN reports. Photos and video show the launch - a secret satellite codenamed Zuma - lighting up the Florida sky. The ship launched in an orbit less than 1,200 miles from Earth and within two minutes disengaged its rocket booster, which then traveled back to and landed right at the Air Force Station.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on January 7, 2018. On Sunday, SpaceX has launched a secret satellite codenamed Zuma on its first flight of the new year

In this image made with an 8-minute long exposure, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and lands as seen from from the Ocean Club Marina in Port Canaveral

The launch is seen from Viera, Florida. SpaceX launched its mission - a secret satellite codenamed Zuma - at 8pm

Pictured is another view made with a long exposure. The ship launched in an orbit less than 1,200 miles from Earth and within two minutes prepared for its rocket booster to land right back at the Air Force Station, which it did

Much of the trip was kept secret and it was not revealed where the ship traveled to in the atmosphere.

The launch was broadcast on SpaceX's website but the entire mission was not live-streamed.

What the ship is made out of, among other questions, has not been revealed to the public.

Previous reasons given for the delay in its launch were further testing being necessary and weather-related conditions.

Musk, meanwhile announced on January 4 that SpaceX will launch 'the world's most powerful rocket' later this month with his own electric car on board.

The Falcon Heavy 'megarocket' will fire beyond orbit from the former Apollo 11 moon rocket launchpad at the Kennedy Space Centre near Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Musk said the launch vehicle will blast off at the 'end of the month' on an unmanned mission with a unique payload - the billionaire's cherry red 2008 Tesla Roadster, which will be fired toward Mars.

The rocket will use 27 engines and three separate re-usable cores that will return to Earth after liftoff during the test flight, which is set to be one of the firm's most technically complex challenges to date.

Elon Musk has announced SpaceX will launch 'the world's most powerful rocket' later this month with his own electric car on board. The Falcon Heavy 'megarocket' (pictured) will fire beyond orbit from the former Apollo 11 moon rocket launchpad at the Kennedy Space Centre near Cape Canaveral, Florida

Before the maiden launch, a full test firing of the rocket's engines is expected, Musk said.

'Falcon Heavy now vertical on the former Apollo 11 moon rocket launchpad,' he wrote on Instagram on Thursday.

'At 2,500 tons of thrust, equal to 18 Boeing 747 aircraft at full throttle, it will be the most powerful rocket in the world by a factor of two. Excitement on launch day guaranteed, one way or another.

'Hold-down test fire next week. Launch end of the month.'

When it lifts off for the first time in late January, the Falcon Heavy will become the most powerful rocket in the world thanks to its 5.1 million pounds of thrust generated through 27 Merlin engines.

The vast rocket, which is ultimately three Falcon 9 rockets linked together, will have the combined thrust to eventually launch 140,000 pounds (63,500kg) of cargo into orbit.

The mission marks SpaceX's most ambitious project to date.

Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, with the aim of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonisation of Mars.

The 46-year-old South African is also the CEO of Tesla, and predicts Falcon Heavy's payload will stay in deep space for a while.

A photo of the unusual cargo - Musk's cherry red 2008 Tesla Roadster - was released last month.

Images released by SpaceX show an original Roadster perched on a large cone inside the Falcon Heavy on what appears to be a secure mount to keep it stationary as the rocket makes its maiden flight.

'Test flights of new rockets usually contain mass simulators in the form of concrete or steel blocks. That seemed extremely boring,' Musk said in December.

If all goes according to plan, the Falcon Heavy will lift off and enter orbit before two of its booster rockets separate and return to Earth at Cape Canaveral in controlled landings. The centre core of the rocket will then separate from the main module, containing Musk's car, and begin its own controlled descent back to Earth, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean

Musk said the launch vehicle will blast off at the 'end of the month' on an unmanned mission with a unique payload - the billionaire's cherry red 2008 Tesla Roadster, which will be fired toward Mars. Pictured is the car strapped into the Falcon Heavy's main module

'Of course, anything boring is terrible, especially companies, so we decided to send something unusual, something that made us feel.

'The payload will be an original Tesla Roadster, playing Space Oddity, on a billion year elliptic Mars orbit.'

If all goes according to plan, the Falcon Heavy will lift off and enter Earth's orbit, before two of its booster rockets separate off and return to Earth at Cape Canaveral in controlled landings.

The rocket's central core will then separate from the main module, containing Musk's car, and begin its own controlled descent back to Earth, landing on the firm's 'Of Course I Still Love You' drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

The main module will continue its trajectory into 'deep space', the billionaire said, with a destination set for the orbit of Mars 140 million miles (225 million kilometres) away.

Musk has said the payload 'will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn't blow up on ascent.'

In a Washington, D.C., speech last July the Tesla founder which said Falcon Heavy is one of the most difficult and technically complex projects SpaceX has ever undertaken.

'There's a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy,' he said during the 2017 International Space Station Research and Development Conference.