SpaceX Falcon Heavy Goes Vertical On Launch Pad, Photos Show

The massive SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket went vertical on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Thursday for testing, photos from Spaceflight Now show.

The rocket is expected to launch sometime in January after months of delays and changes to the launch schedule. But SpaceX CEO and Founder, Elon Musk, posted photos of the rocket earlier this month at KSC, showing progress from previous months that had been filled with few updates.

The rocket is huge, it’s actually made up of several of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets and if successful, will be powerful enough to launch a 747 airplane into space. But the maiden launch won’t be carrying an expensive plane. It will instead be carrying Musk’s first ever Tesla Roadster.

SpaceX shared photos of the roadster in the payload position earlier this week on Twitter to show followers how serious Musk is about launching his car. If the launch is successful, the rocket is expected to deliver the roadster to Mars orbit, where it should stay for about a billion years.

The launch is still not scheduled for any specific date, rather, the event page on the KSC website says the rocket will launch “NET” or “no earlier than” January 2018. The exact date and time for the launch as well as whether or not there will be tickets available for those who wish to view the launch is to be determined.

The rocket is expected to launch from the updated Launch Pad 39A where historic early NASA missions launched from.