Releases Photo Of The Booster's Interstage

For those who just can't get enough of all things SpaceX, the company has released a photo giving a glimpse of the Falcon Heavy booster interstage, which it hopes to be able to launch sometime in 2017.

The Falcon Heavy will be made up of a Falcon 9 Full Thrust core stage with two Falcon 9 first stage boosters to provide additional lift. It is similar in design to the ULA Delta IV rocket, but will have twice the lifting capability, according to SpaceX.

Spaceflight Insider reports that the Falcon Heavy has been under development for several years. It was first scheduled for launch in 2013 from California, but was delayed by design changes done at the same time as the upgrade of the Falcon 9v1.1 rocket, and again with the development of the Falcon 9 Full Thrust variant.

The first flight of Falcon Heavy has been further delayed by two launch failures of Falcon 9 rockets over 14 months. Between that, and now playing catch-up with its launch manifest, SpaceX has pushed the initial flight of the Heavy booster to sometime in 2017.

When that launch occurs, the Falcon Heavy will be the world's most powerful operational rocket ... until it is eclipsed by NASA's Space Launch System, likely in 2018.

But before that can happen, SpaceX has work to do getting the Falcon 9 back to flight status. That has also been pushed into 2017.

(Images provided by SpaceX)

FMI: www.spacex.com