---
title: "Elon Musk: This Is SpaceX’s “Most Difficult Launch” Ever"
description: "At 11:30 on Monday night, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy will launch 24 new experimental satellites into space for the U.S. Department of Defense. Getting the satellites into orbit and detaching them from the Falcon Heavy without causing any collisions will take some careful finagling — CNN reports that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described […]"
date: "2019-06-24"
modified: "2019-06-24"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-spacex-difficult-launch"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "space"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "the digest"
---

# Elon Musk: This Is SpaceX’s “Most Difficult Launch” Ever

![On Monday night, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy will launch 24 experimental satellites into orbit. CEO Elon Musk calls it the company's "most difficult launch."](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/elon-musk-spacex-difficult-launch.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: SpaceX/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Final Countdown

At 11:30 p.m. EDT Monday night, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy will attempt to launch 24 new experimental satellites into space for the United States Department of Defense.

Getting the satellites into orbit and detaching them from the Falcon Heavy without causing any collisions will take some careful finagling — *[CNN ](<https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/24/tech/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch/index.html>)*[reports](<https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/24/tech/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch/index.html>) that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described it as the company's "most difficult launch" to date.

But if the company succeeds, the science experiments it delivers into orbit could deepen our understanding of space.

## SpaceX Sets Sail

Though the Defense Department chose which satellites would be on board the Falcon Heavy, they're not all owned by the military — some belong to universities, research organizations, and NASA.

Included in the payload, according to *CNN*, are new space telescopes, an advanced atomic clock, and an experimental spacecraft called a solar sail that is expected to propel itself using photons' momentum as fuel.

## Test Run

At a $90 million price point, the Falcon Heavy is already cheaper than other companies' comparable rockets, *CNN* reports.

SpaceX has yet to manage a perfect landing and recovery of all three of a Falcon Heavy's rocket boosters — though it once [came close](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-falcon-heavy-sea>) — but if it sticks the landing tonight, the move could help further separate the company from the pack, potentially leading to more government contracts.

**READ MORE:** [SpaceX's Falcon Heavy will launch Bill Nye's science experiment into orbit](<https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/24/tech/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch/index.html>) \[*CNN*\]

**More on Elon Musk:** *[SpaceX's Starlink Satellites Could Make Space a Minefield](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starlink-satellites-space>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)