Updated on: November 1, 2022 / 8:02 PM EDT / CBS News SpaceX launches rocket on Space Force mission SpaceX launches rocket on Space Force mission 00:23 A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying a suite of classified U.S. Space Force payloads blasted off on the rocket's fourth flight Tuesday, the first for the nation's most powerful operational launcher since 2019 and the first since then to feature spectacular side-by-side landings of its two strap-on boosters. Partially obscured by dense fog, liftoff from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center came at 9:41 a.m. EDT when the huge rocket's 27 Merlin first-stage engines, nine in each of three strapped together side-by-side Falcon 9 boosters, ignited with more than 5 million pounds of thrust, the equivalent power of 18 747 jumbo jets. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket streaks toward space after blastoff from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center carrying a collection of classified U.S. Space Force payloads. SpaceX After a final round of lightning-fast computer checks, the 230-foot-tall Falcon Heavy, tipping the scales at some 3.1 million pounds, was released to roar skyward, arcing away to the east over the Atlantic Ocean in a ground-shaking direct ascent to a circular orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the U.S. inventory, but that honor is expected to pass to NASA's huge Space Launch System booster when it flies for the first time later this month to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule around the moon and back. The most-powerful-rocket title then will be handed off to SpaceX's gargantuan Super Heavy-Starship when it finally blasts off on a maiden flight late this year or early next. A view of the Falcon Heavy's 27 first stage Merlin engines, nine in each of three strapped-together Falcon 9 stages, during pre-launch processing. SpaceX That said, the Falcon Heavy did not disappoint, putting on a dramatic sky show as it climbed out of the fog blanketing the spaceport atop a brilliant jet of fiery exhaust, the roar of its 27 engines shattering the morning calm. The Falcon Heavy's two side boosters, both making their first flight, were programmed to flip around moments after separation and to restart three engines each to reverse course. Another firing slowed the boosters for the plunge back into the dense lower atmosphere. Plummeting toward the ground, the boosters restarted their central core engines, deployed landing legs and settled to picture-perfect, side-by-side touchdowns on concrete pads at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as sonic booms rumbled across Florida's Space Coast. The landings marked the 24th and 25th at the Space Force station and SpaceX's 150th and 151st successful Falcon-family booster recoveries overall. Falcon Heavy’s side boosters have landed – marking the 150th and 151st recovery of orbital class rockets pic.twitter.com/vK4ZdfDQtX