Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, named for its giant pink granite dome rising from the Llano Uplift, spans the border between Gillespie County and Llano County, south of the Llano River and some 24 km north of Fredericksburg, Texas.
SpaceX has been conducting its East Coast launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but they hope to return to their SLC-40 launch site in Cape Canaveral for the Falcon Heavy. SLC-40 is still undergoing repairs, after SpaceXâs last Falcon 9 explosion over a year ago. An alternative launch site, the Kennedy Space Centerâs 39A, is being modified to accommodate the Falcon Heavy.
Musk, the billionaire founder and lead designer of SpaceX, who first announced plans for a heavy-lift rocket in 2011 and constructed the Falcon Heavy by strapping together three boosters from the companyâs smaller but proven Falcon 9 cargo rockets, had downplayed expectations of a successful launch. On Monday, he had estimated Falconâs chances at about 50-50, and said he feared a launchpad-destroying explosion similar to the Falcon 9 fireball that created extensive damage in September 2016.