Falcon Heavy launches, with a Tesla Roadster as its payload
SpaceX's most powerful rocket flew for the first time, and two of its boosters landed side by side.
Archive entry. This article looks back at an event from February 6, 2018. It was drafted with AI assistance from public records and is being fact-checked. See our About page.
On February 6, 2018, SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy for the first time from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. It was the most powerful operational rocket in the world at the time.
Instead of a customer satellite, Elon Musk put his own cherry-red Tesla Roadster on top, with a spacesuit-clad mannequin called "Starman" in the driver's seat and David Bowie's "Space Oddity" playing.
Landings
Two of the rocket's three boosters landed upright at the same time at Cape Canaveral. The center core was lost on its way to the drone ship. The Roadster was sent on a path around the Sun that extends beyond the orbit of Mars.
