Rocket might not make it to orbit

Elon Musk downplays expectations for the first flight of SpaceX’s giant Falcon Heavy.

SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk on Wednesday downplayed expectations for the upcoming demonstration flight of the company’s giant Falcon Heavy rocket, saying there was a “good chance” that the vehicle would not make it to orbit in its first launch.

Musk gave insight into the Falcon Heavy development process, as well as the Hawthorne space company’s other current projects, during a keynote speech at the International Space Station Research and Development conference in Washington, D.C.

During the on-stage conversation with NASA International Space Station program manager Kirk Shireman, Musk said development of Falcon Heavy has been “way harder” than the team initially thought.

The 229.6-foot-tall rocket will have 27 engines. SpaceX will attempt to land its two side boosters — which will be reused first-stage boosters from previous missions of the smaller Falcon 9 — as well as its center core.

Musk described the first demonstration flight, which is expected to occur later this year, as “guaranteed to be exciting.”

“I hope it makes it far enough away from the pad that it does not cause pad damage,” he said. “I would even consider that a win, to be honest.”

Musk also teased a part of his updated Mars plans, which he unveiled last year, involving launching spaceships to travel en masse to the Red Planet. Musk mused Wednesday that the Mars vehicle could be downsized a bit, making it capable of performing Earth-orbit missions, as well as the expected trips to Mars. He said those Earth-orbit missions could be a way to pay for the cost of the system.

“It’s a little bit smaller,” Musk said, adding that he probably would give a fuller update on his plans for Mars at the September International Astronautical Congress conference in Adelaide, Australia. “Still big, but I think this one’s got a shot at being real” on the economic front.