SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launches massive EchoStar internet satellite
CBSN
With an ever-increasing demand for internet access, EchoStar launched a powerful new communications satellite late Friday atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket that will deliver broadband service across nearly 80% of North and South America.
Running two days later after a last-minute scrub Wednesday, the Falcon Heavy's first stage, made up of three strapped-together Falcon 9 boosters, roared to life with a sky-lighting burst of flaming exhaust at 11:04 p.m. Eastern time.
An instant later, with its 27 engine generating more than five million pounds of thrust, the rocket majestically climbed away from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, putting on a spectacular overnight show for area residents and tourists as it arced away to the east over the Atlantic Ocean.
Security screening lines are so long at some U.S. airports that major airlines are letting passengers cancel or rebook their tickets free of charge during the ongoing partial federal government shutdown. Edited by Alain Sherter In:
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