Announcer: Six, five, four, three, two, one, zero.
In position.
Narrator: Remember the Falcon Heavy?
SpaceX's megarocket that fired a Tesla up into space
in 2018 and its first commercial satellite in early 2019.
Well, it's back.
This time not with one satellite but 24 of them,
in what had been dubbed by SpaceX's CEO, Elon Musk,
as its most difficult mission ever.
The mission is called Space Test Program-2.
It's the first time Falcon Heavy has launched a payload
for the US Air Force, but it may not be the last.
The rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center.
And although this is the rocket's third launch,
it's the first with reused rockets.
Specifically the two side boosters, which were used
on the previous Falcon launch in early 2019.
Both side boosters made a simultaneous successful landing
back at Kennedy Space Center shortly after takeoff.
Announcer: See it coming towards our two landing pads.
See those landing legs deploy.
Narrator: And the plan was that the central core
would land on a drone ship 770 miles off the coast
of Florida, but it slightly missed its mark
and landed in the Atlantic Ocean instead.
Announcer: Pretty good view!
Narrator: But it's not this complex series
of rocket-landing attempts that is why Musk called this
the most difficult mission yet.
It was the complexity of the payload
and how SpaceX had to deploy it,
because the mission involved not only
multiple satellites but multiple orbits.
Specifically, three separate orbits,
which required four upper-stage engine burns
that lasted over six hours.
In total, the collection of satellites brought the cost
of this mission to an estimated $750 million.
Which isn't surprising when you see what this rideshare had
on board, including a Deep Space digital atomic clock
made by NASA for better space-navigation tracking,
an experimental propellant developed by the US Air Force
that's safer for humans to handle,
and an innovative spacecraft called a LightSail
designed by The Planetary Society
that's powered by solar rays alone.
But it wasn't just scientific instruments SpaceX launched.
Attached to the same satellite carrying NASA's atomic clock
were the cremated remains of 152 people,
including late NASA astronaut Bill Pogue.
These were sent up by Celestis Memorial Spaceflights,
a company that will launch remains
to space starting at nearly $5,000.
In all, the successful mission was a huge win for SpaceX
because this puts it a step ahead of its competitors
for a coveted government contract
to launch some of the government's
multimillion- to multibillion-dollar equipment.
SpaceX will have to beat other competing companies
like Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance.
But if it wins the contract, it would be a lucrative
addition to the Falcon Heavy's
already impressive launch manifest.
And could mean that we'll see more launches
and landings like this one.