SpaceX launch news latest: Falcon Heavy takes off in 'most difficult mission to date'

SpaceX launched its latest rocket mission today in what it called “one of the most difficult launches” it has ever attempted.

The Falcon Heavy blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, carrying 24 experimental satellites at the crack of dawn on Tuesday.

Elon Musk’s famous rocket took off to cheers from onlookers at 2.30am local time (6.30am GMT) after a three-hour delay from the original launch time late on Monday.

The craft then began its six-hour mission to deploy the satellites, with its booster rockets separating safely, according to reports.

The two side boosters, which have been used in a previous mission, returned safely to Earth, landing on adjacent Air Force landing pads.

It was the first time SpaceX had reused these parts successfully on another launch.

Meanwhile, the rocket's centre booster was meant to land on SpaceX's drone ship in the Atlantic ocean, but it missed its target, instead crashing into the sea.

Mr Musk, who predicted difficulties in landing the centre booster, reportedly admitted: "It was a long shot."

The mission, dubbed Space Test Program 2 (STP-2), is the third for the Falcon Heavy rocket, which SpaceX describes as the “most powerful launch system in the world”.

Its 24 research satellites will carry out a variety of functions, including helping to improve deep-space navigation and tropical weather forecasts, and testing out new “greener” fuel propellants.

Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world "by a factor of two," the company states on its website.

It has the ability to lift nearly 64 metric tons into orbit – the equivalent of more than a 737 jetliners loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel.

The mission is one of the most challenging in SpaceX history, the website adds, because it happens in stages, involving “four separate upper-stage engine burns, three separate deployment orbits, a final propulsive passivation manoeuvre and a total mission duration of over six hours”.

The satellites have been created by a variety of organisations including NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US government's Department of Defence research laboratories, universities and a non-profit organisation.