SpaceX is scheduled to launch its new Falcon Heavy for the first time, carrying some unusual cargo: a Tesla Roadster belonging to SpaceX and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk..
If Tuesday's launch succeeds, the 70-metre high Falcon Heavy will be the biggest and most powerful rocket launched into space since a Saturn V belonging to the US space agency NASA blasted off in 1973. It also will mark the first three-way landing back on Earth of reusable rockets.
SpaceX says its Falcon Heavy is able to lift 64 metric tonnes, twice as much cargo as the next largest rocket currently in operation.
Musk was quoted several weeks ago saying he wanted to include his electric car on the flight, and his recent social media posts confirmed that it will be on board.
"Falcon Heavy sends a car to Mars," he said on Twitter.
He also posted a photo of the red Telsa Roadster on Instagram showing the vehicle fixed to part of the rocket with a dummy wearing a space suit in the driver's seat.
The company has said the Falcon Heavy will aim for an elliptical orbit that will at one stage travel the same distance from the sun as Mars.
Musk said earlier the car will be in deep space for billions of years "if it doesn't blow up on ascent."
