Remains of Falcon Heavy's central core sent back to port

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A week after the launch, the remains of Falcon Heavy's central core, which overturned due to rough seas, were returned to the port.

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The remains of the Falcon Heavy 's central core used to place the Arabsat – 6A satellite in space were returned to the port as a result of its landing and recovery operations. The landing being successful, the rough sea caused the fall of the booster. Photo credit: Michael Howard / Insider SpaceFlight

PORT CANAVERAL, Florida – A week after launch from the nearby Kennedy Space Center, the remains of Falcon Heavy's central core, overthrown by rough seas, have been returned to the harbor.

The scene, named B1055, landed successfully on the drone ship "Sure, I still love you" about nine minutes after its launch at 6:35 pm. EDT (22:35 GMT) on April 11, 2019. However, during the weekend (it is unclear exactly when), the core fell as a result of rough seas.

According to SpaceX, the company has not been able to safely send people to the drone to secure the recall before the heavy swell causes it to fall.

Both overflights successfully landed in the Cape Canaveral Airborne Landing Zones 1 and 2. They have not been affected by the state of the sea.

The extent of damage to the central core was not known until the morning of April 18, when the drone was towed to Port Canaveral.

At first glance, it appears that the entire upper half of the booster seat is missing, as well as at least one of its legs. It is not known if the overturning event completely broke the servomotor in half and that its remains sank, or if the company cut off the upper part in order to recover the engine and the section of the legs.

It is also difficult to know if or what the company plans to recover from the kernel. However, this should not affect the next Falcon Heavy mission, scheduled for June 2019 at the earliest, as it is planned to use a new center.

Tagged: Arabsat 6A Core 1055 Falcon Heavy Of course, I still love you Port Canaveral SpaceX The range

Derek Richardson

Derek Richardson is a graduate in mass media, with a specialization in contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. When he was in Washburn, he was the editor of the newspaper led by students, the Washburn Review. He also has a blog on the International Space Station called Orbital Velocity. He met with members of the SpaceFlight Insider team during the flight of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket with the MUOS-4 satellite. Richardson joined our team shortly thereafter.

His passion for space was ignited when he watched the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery in space on October 29, 1998. Today, this fervor is still alive. is accelerated to orbit and shows no signs of slowing down. After attending math and engineering courses at the university, he quickly realized that his true calling was to communicate with others about the space. Since joining SpaceFlight Insider in 2015, Richardson has worked to improve the quality of our content and ultimately become our editor-in-chief. @TheSpaceWriter