Musk’s space company operates differently than any other by recovering the largest part of its Falcon 9 rockets — the first stage. After pushing the upper stage pieces beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, the Falcon 9’s first stage rotates and returns to land upright on either a concrete pad or one of its autonomous drone ships.
SpaceX plans to use that same technology for Falcon Heavy and make the rocket largely reusable.
“If things go perfectly, all three rocket booster cores will come back and land,” Musk tweeted.
The two side boosters will break away first, returning to land at Cape Canaveral in what Musk has called “synchronized aerobatics.” The central booster will land a few minutes later on a SpaceX drone ship off the Florida coast.
Musk is even considering modifying the typically expendable upper stage for return as well. The upper stage gives the payload a final push into orbit but Musk says he wants to bring it back to give Falcon Heavy “full reusability.”
“Odds of success low, but maybe worth a shot,” Musk tweeted.
