The SpaceX Falcon Heavy is not slated to make its launch debut any sooner than July.
But thanks to this two-and-a-half minute animated video SpaceX released Jan. 27, you don’t have to wait to see what this behemoth might look like when it lifts off from Kennedy Space Center’s storied Space Launch Complex-39A.
The Falcon Heavy consists of three Falcon 9 rocket cores powered by 27 Merlin 1D engines. In the video above, all three of those cores return to the launch pad under their own power for a synchronized series of graceful, pinpoint landings.
Returning all three Falcon Heavy booster cores to the launch site? That’s going to be interesting… pic.twitter.com/70XvjcOYVD
— Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) January 27, 2015
In the video below, which SpaceX founder Elon Musk, graciously released Jan. 16, we see actual footage of a Falcon 9 first stage making a not-so-graceful attempt to land on a hard surface for the first time.
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