ORLANDO, Fla. _ SpaceX launched its massive Falcon Heavy rocket on Thursday night carrying a communications satellite, and for the first time landed all three boosters safely on land and at sea a few minutes after liftoff.
The mission began right on time at 6:35 p.m. EDT, when the rocket roared to life with a huge fireball from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
About two minutes after launch, the boosters separated and the spacecraft and its payload, the Arabsat 6A communications satellite, were on their way to space.
At six minutes after launch, two of the boosters could be seen lighting up as they reentered the atmosphere. Shortly thereafter, two sonic booms echoed and shook buildings at the space center.
Two of the rockets landed safely in landing zones at Kennedy Space Center and a third came down on the company's "Of Course I Still Love You" sea barge in the Atlantic.
The happy landings were an improvement over SpaceX's Falcon Heavy test flight in February 2018. That mission resulted in two successful landings, but the third booster crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday had put the chances of success for the triple landing at 90% to 95%.
On Thursday, a triumphant Musk tweeted, "The Falcons have landed."
The successful launch marks a milestone for a company that has been pushing for this moment since its founding in 2002.
This rocket launch attracted scores of space tourists to the Space Coast throughout the week.
Some tourism officials had predicted more than 100,000 spectators would flood the region.
Officials with Port Canaveral were expecting a packed day at Jetty Park. They said the park had to close to new arrivals at about 4:30 on Wednesday.
On Thursday, a new crowd lined the port at Jetty Park pier, fishing lines in the water and campers opened in anticipation.
Several families could be seen having a cookout hours before SpaceX's rescheduled launch.
Kenny and Cheryl Boudreaux, who parked their 1950 Ford F-1 pickup there, stopped at the park's campground on the way back from a vacation in the Florida Keys.
Cheryl said the excitement for her has been building since Sunday's scrub made a launch viewing possible for the couple, who live near New Orleans in Amite City, La.
"I just want to hear it, I want to see it," she said. "I want to hear the noise."
The Falcon Heavy carried into orbit a satellite known as Arabsat-6A that will deliver radio, internet, television and mobile access to customers in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
