This month in January, SpaceX is planning to launch its maiden launch of the most powerful rocket in the world, the Falcon 9 Heavy. SpaceX has been able to launch reusable Falcon 9 rockets and land them successfully for commercial use for the past one and a half years. Now this month, SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk will launch his original Tesla roadster into a billion year orbit around Mars with the Falcon 9 Heavy. The heavy is made up of three Falcon 9 rockets attached together and will land with a simultaneous landing of two of the rockets and a sea landing of the main rocket. However this will be more than just a rocket launch but instead be a symbolic mark for the beginning of a very hopeful future for SpaceX and commercial space exploration in general.

All part of billionaire, Elon Musk’s bold plan to colonize Mars, he hopes to achieve significant progress this year. SpaceX launch of the falcon heavy will become the start of a new era in SpaceX where they are able to go beyond Earth’s orbit to the moon and Mars. However, the time and work leading up to the Falcon Heavy test launch has been very difficult and long for the company. The Falcon Heavy has been delayed for a few years as Elon has said himself that the project was much more difficult than expected. Due to the design of three rockets being attached, the rocket ends up being very dynamic and so the moving parts have to be accounted for. For example, the rocket has three landings and a separation stage, both of which are much more difficult to do than just a single rocket. However, whether this launch is a failure or success, Elon assured people that this launch will be interesting both ways.

The very dream that Elon Musk wants to achieve is getting closer and closer in 2018 and we can expect bigger and more ambitious launches in the future.