SpaceX Falcon Heavy seen from space waiting on launch pad (photos)

Josh Dinner
·2 min read
6
A high-altitude aerial view of SpaceX's triple-booster Falcon Heavy rocket can be seen standing in the center of the wide landscaped launch complex. Roads, pipes and other infrastructure extend outward from the rocket and adjacent launch tower.
A high-altitude aerial view of SpaceX's triple-booster Falcon Heavy rocket can be seen standing in the center of the wide landscaped launch complex. Roads, pipes and other infrastructure extend outward from the rocket and adjacent launch tower.

Before SpaceX's Falcon Heavy made its seventh flight to space, space decided to send some Falcon Heavy to Earth.

In photographs beamed back from one of Maxar Technologies' imaging satellites, SpaceX's heavy-lift Falcon Heavy rocket can be seen standing at Launch Complex-39A, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX was poised to launch Falcon Heavy Wednesday (July 26) night, but that try was scrubbed barely a minute before liftoff. The company also nixed another planned attempt on Thursday night (July 27). The current target is Friday (July 28), during a 99-minute window that opens at 11:04 p.m. EDT (0304 GMT on July 29).

The rocket's payload, the Jupiter 3 communications satellite, will join the Hughes Jupiter fleet, which provides communications services to North and South America.

Related: SpaceX scrubs record-breaking Falcon Heavy rocket launch (video)

Jupiter 3 is the largest commercial communication satellite ever, built by Maxar Technologies. Maxar designs and manufactures satellites and other components for spacecraft, and has 285 satellites in orbit, according to the company's website.

A high-altitude aerial view of SpaceX's triple-booster Falcon Heavy rocket can be seen standing in the center of the wide landscaped launch complex. Roads, pipes and other infrastructure extend outward from the rocket and adjacent launch tower.
A high-altitude aerial view of SpaceX's triple-booster Falcon Heavy rocket can be seen standing in the center of the wide landscaped launch complex. Roads, pipes and other infrastructure extend outward from the rocket and adjacent launch tower.

Wednesday morning, before the first launch attempt, Maxar posted images of Falcon Heavy via the company's social media accounts.

A high-altitude aerial view of SpaceX's triple-booster Falcon Heavy rocket can be seen standing in the center of the wide landscaped launch complex. Roads, pipes and other infrastructure extend outward from the rocket and adjacent launch tower.
A high-altitude aerial view of SpaceX's triple-booster Falcon Heavy rocket can be seen standing in the center of the wide landscaped launch complex. Roads, pipes and other infrastructure extend outward from the rocket and adjacent launch tower.

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The pictures were taken using another one of Maxar's satellites, already in orbit. They show Falcon Heavy standing on the launchpad from three different angles and altitudes, and serve as a visual reminder for the enormous size of Falcon Heavy and also the power and capability of the satellites we send to space to gaze back at our planet.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 5:25 p.m. EDT on July 27 with the new target launch date of July 28.