SpaceX lands Falcon Heavy boosters after classified USSF mission launch, video goes viral

SpaceX has completed another mission for the US Space Force as it successfully launched classified satellites in the early hours of January 16 aboard its Falcon Heavy rocket. The rocket lifted off at 4:26 am IST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida under the mission named USSF-67. 

This marked Falcon Heavy’s fifth overall launch and the first of 2023 out of five missions planned this year. Like every other mission, Falcon Heavy's launch resulted in spectacular views as the triple-booster rocket soared in the sky. It is currently the world's most powerful commercial rocket and uses three boosters each equipped with 27 engines. The engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft. 

About eight minutes later, when two of the side boosters pushed the rocket into orbit, they flawlessly touched down on Landing Zone-1 and Landing Zone-2. Watch the viral video below. 

This US Space Force mission was dedicated to launching two payloads with multiple satellites, although only a little information has been disclosed about them. One of these payloads is the Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM (CBAS-2) which is a communications relay satellite. It will support operations by augmenting "existing military satellite communication capabilities and continuously broadcast military data through space-based satellite relay links," Ars Technica reported. 

The other is the Long Duration Propulsive ESPA-3A, which will host five smaller satellites that will be installed at varying altitudes. Due to this mission being classified, SpaceX did not confirm the deployment of the satellites or at what altitude they have been inserted. All we know is that the CBAS-2 will be installed in a geostationary orbit, about 35,700 kilometers above Earth.