Watch SpaceX launch a game-changing rocket on this livestream

SpaceX is preparing to make history on Tuesday afternoon with the much-anticipated launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket.
Built from a strengthened core and two of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, the Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful operational launch vehicle in the world "by a factor of two," Space reported. If everything goes as planned, the Falcon Heavy could make spaceflight cheaper and easier, and even eventually take astronauts to the moon and Mars.
Though the launch should theoretically go off without a hitch, SpaceX isn't risking any important cargo on this test flight. Normally, tests of this caliber carry some dead weight, equal to what the rocket will be expected to carry in actual runs. But instead of that "boring" option, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the rocket will be carrying a red Tesla roadster, plus a SpaceX spacesuit sitting in the front seat, Engadget reported.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The rocket was originally expected to launch around 1:30 p.m. EST, but after wind-related delays, is now expected to launch around 3:45 p.m. Watch the livestream at SpaceX or below. Shivani Ishwar
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.
-
Book reviews: 'America, América: A New History of the New World' and 'Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'
Feature A historian tells a new story of the Americas and the forgotten story of a pioneering preacher
-
Another messaging app used by the White House is in hot water
The Explainer TeleMessage was seen being used by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
-
AI hallucinations are getting worse
In the Spotlight And no one knows why it is happening
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beat
speed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammals
Speed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its prey
Speed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brain
Speed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'
Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggests
Speed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening