SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch cutting-edge NASA space tech

TITUSVILLE, Fla., - An epic SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch — only the second trip to space for this rocket line — brings a set of NASA technology one step closer to getting its own ride into orbit. Falcon Heavy made its first operational flight April 11, sending communications satellite Arabsat-6A aloft while successfully landing all three of its rockets — including the core and two boosters, reported Elizabeth Howell for Space.com.

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The Intelligent Aerospace take:

April 17, 2019-With SpaceX's Falcon Heavy successfully launching a commercial payload into space for the first time, NASA will utilize the the Falcon Heavy to launch a number of technologies this June. The NASA experiments include a pair of cubesats to measure distortions in the upper atmosphere interfereing with GPS and radio signals. In addition, NASA will launch the Green Propellant Infusion Mission to test alternative rocket fuels, the Deep Space Atomic Clock to provide accurate time to improve navigation, as well as the Space Environments Testbed, which measures how solar radiation affects spacecraft hardware.

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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace

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