Damage if SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket explodes

The world's strongest rocket Falcon Heavy may explode shortly after takeoff, destroying the launch pad and causing heavy damage to SpaceX.

SpaceX will launch new missiles that are expected to orbit tomorrow but maybe the first flight will fail, according to CNN. At least, it was predicted by Elon Musk, founder and president of SpaceX when asked about Falcon Heavy missiles at a conference last year."Most likely the vehicle will not be able to fly to orbit," Musk said.

Some experts in the aviation industry agree with Musk. Paulo Lozano, professor of astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, thinks that Falcon Heavy, the vehicle that is about to become the world's most powerful rocket, faces major design challenges."Every time you fire a rocket engine, the incident can happen," Lozano said.

If the Falcon Heavy detonates too close to the launch pad, the base will be severely destroyed.

"If only one engine explodes and bad consequences will occur," Lozano warned. He also emphasized that this type of missile is extremely difficult to test on the ground, so flying test is the only way.

If the Falcon Heavy detonates too close to the launch pad, the base will be severely destroyed."I hope the rocket flies far enough away from the launch pad to not damage the platform. I even consider it a victory," Musk said.

SpaceX wants to protect the digital launcher 39A at the Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida for an important reason. With its own special path, the 39A platform is the only place that can carry out the flights of Crew Dragon, the new spacecraft built by SpaceX. It is a growing company spacecraft model to help NASA take astronauts back to the International Space Station (ISS).

Crew Dragon has been delayed several times. The destruction of the launch pad may cause the flight schedule to be rescheduled longer, according to the director of the US Government Responsibility Office (GAO) Cristina Chaplain. The US Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) will certainly be unhappy about that.

No US spacecraft has been able to carry its crew since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, so the government must hire Russian spacecraft during flights to ISS. SpaceX's rival, Boeing, is also developing a model of human-powered spacecraft. But according to GAO, both companies are too far behind schedule.

According to NASA, SpaceX will perform its first manned mission in December this year, but that may not happen if the 39A platform is badly damaged after the Falcon Heavy missile launch. A smaller explosion of SpaceX's Falcon 9 missile has destroyed the launch pad, dragging over a year of repair and $ 50 million of reconstruction costs. The launcher consists of expensive structures that help fuel and track missiles, with fire-resistance from missiles.

According to GAO, SpaceX has a plan to add another launch pad for Crew Dragon , but it is not clear how much it will cost and time. But if the Falcon Heavy explodes, the incident is not entirely damage. SpaceX will collect a lot of valuable data that can be used to make new missile prototypes.

However, the explosion could cause SpaceX to suffer criticism. Many people can quickly question the company's reliability, due to some previous problems.

SpaceX also competes with the United Launch Alliance, the legendary aerospace company selected by the US military as a missile partner for more than a decade. United Launch Alliance is always proud of the history of rocket launches that have never failed. When both companies competed for contracts with the army, SpaceX certainly did not expect news of the rocket explosion to appear on the newspaper.

The Falcon Heavy missile explosion will not delay the scheduled launches of the Falcon 9. 9. SpaceX has two other launch locations where Falcon 9 can take off, one at Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida and another. at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.