SpaceX's new heavy rocket fired up its core engines at Florida's Kennedy Space Center for an important 10-second test Wednesday as it moved closer to its first mission, CBS News reported.
The Falcon Heavy's first stage is made up of two previously flown Falcon 9 boosters attached to the side of a new center core stage, the network wrote. The second stage is connected to the center core stage.
Falcon X CEO Elon Musk tweeted that everything appeared to go well with the test.
Last year, Musk was cautious about setting expectations for his powerful new rocket, CBS News noted.
"There's a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy, a real good chance that that vehicle does not make it to orbit," Musk said last year, according to CBS News. "I want to make sure to set expectations accordingly. I hope it makes it far enough beyond the pad so that it does not cause pad damage. I would consider even that a win, to be honest."
CNN reported that SpaceX has redefined space travel by safely guiding rockets from space back to Earth for reuse, driving down the cost of single missions. So far, SpaceX has safely landed 20 Falcon 9 rocket boosters, the news network said.
With the Falcon Heavy, SpaceX will try to land all three rocket boosters after a single liftoff, noted CNN.
SpaceX said on its website that the Falcon Heavy will be able to lift large payloads, up to 119,000 pounds, into orbit – the equivalent of a 737 jetliner with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel. It also boasts that the amount is twice as much as the closest operational vehicle and can do it for one-third of the cost.
SpaceX said the design of the Falcon Heavy was meant to eventually carry humans into space and with the possibility of flying missions to the Moon or Mars.
The Falcon Heavy's first payload will be a little less ambitious, and unusual – Musk's personal Tesla Roadster, CBS News said. Musk had said that he plans to launch the roadster on a looping orbit beyond Mars with David Bowie's "Space Oddity" playing on the stereo.
Musk tweeted about the idea in December.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.