Musk: 'Odds Of Success Low' For Upper Stage Recovery

SpaceX may attempt to recover its Falcon Heavy booster and its upper stage when the company launches the new rocket for the first time later this year.

Engadget reports that SpaceX founder Elon Musk Tweeted that the first flight of the Falcon Heavy is not planned for late summer. According to the company, it was "shockingly difficult to go from a single core to a triple-core vehicle," and while most of the technical issues for using three cores have been resolved, the flight will still be risky. But then, Musk set the Internet abuzz by Tweeting that the company may also attempt to bring back the rocket's upper stage. "Considering trying to bring upper stage back on Falcon Heavy demo flight for full reusability. Odds of success low, but maybe worth a shot," Musk said in a Tweet.

The first Falcon Heavy will use two previously-flown boosters, according to SpaceX.

The ability to recover parts of the Falcon Heavy are essential to Musk's long-range goals of sending humans to colonize Mars. Shorter-term, the company will attempt launches using more flight-proven Falcon 9 rockets, and the relaunch of a booster just 24 hours after its first flight.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.spacex.com