The close-up of two Falcon rockets landing is as majestic as you think

on Tuesday morning, a Falcon Heavy missile launched from Kennedy Space Center, carrying a pair of US Space Force satellites to geostationary orbit.

This was the fourth overall launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket, but it was the first time that SpaceX invited a handful of photographers to set up remote cameras next to Landing Zone 2, which is located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This is one of two concrete platforms where Falcon 9 rockets launched from Florida occasionally land.

Each of the circular landing pads, 86 meters in diameter, was busy on Tuesday morning returning a pair of side boosters from the Falcon Heavy launch. After separating the core stage from the heavy rocket, these boosters then made a propulsive descent. The first landed 8 minutes and 15 seconds after launch. The second followed five seconds later.

Trevor Mahlmann, firing for Ars, was among those invited to capture the moment of the landing. The video of the launch and the landing is impressive, but Mahlmann’s shots do an excellent job of capturing the fire and fury of the missiles as a single engine burns to bring the missile’s speed down to nearly zero.

SpaceX will now refurbish these side boosters for reuse on the Army’s next Falcon Heavy mission, USSF-67, as early as January next year. The central core was not recovered and landed far below reach in the Atlantic Ocean.

List image by Trevor Mahlmann