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.
(The rocket family is named after another famously reusable spaceship, the fictional Millennium Falcon from âStar Wars,â Musk has said.) But perhaps the biggest draw of todayâs launch was the Falcon Heavyâs unique payload: a Tesla Roadster riding atop the rocketâs second stage. Musk announced in December that the âmidnight cherry redâ convertible, which he owns, would be the first Falcon Heavy payload.