SpaceX fires Tesla Roadster into orbit

Elon Musk’s red Tesla Roadster has been sent into space on his SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket.

The private space company, led by the Tesla chief executive officer, launched the rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center today.

Musk posted an image of his car fixed to a part of the rocket with a dummy at the wheel on Instagram, CNBC reports

The car will play “Starman” by David Bowie when it’s released into zero gravity.

The Roadster is then going on an elliptical orbit around the Sun and will also pass near Mars.

The Falcon Heavy is said to be the biggest and most powerful rocket to be launched into space since Nasa’s giant Saturn V in 1973. SpaceX describes it as “the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two”.

Built from three boosters of SpaceX’s smaller Falcon 9, the rocket is equivalent to 18 Boeing 747 aircraft at full throttle.

The Falcon Heavy could carry cargo and crew to Mars, SpaceX says.

Visit spacex.com/webcast for more information and videos.