SpaceX via YouTube

  • As its test payload, the rocket carried Elon Musk's 2008 Tesla Roadster, complete with a dummy driver named "Starman" wearing a SpaceX spacesuit.
  • The car is equipped with cameras, and you can watch the Roadster's journey via a live feed.


For those concerned about the fate of Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster - and the dummy named "Starman" that SpaceX sent into space on Tuesday - have no fear.

SpaceX equipped the Roadster with a camera that's livestreaming the payload's journey as it travels toward Mars orbit.

Starman got some stunning views, including some of Earth.


The car will coast for roughly six hours through radiation fields near Earth's Van Allen Belt. The intense radiation makes for a less pleasant ride.

"It's going to get whacked pretty hard," Musk told reporters on Monday.

By subjecting the upper-stage of the rocket to this treatment, SpaceX hopes to demonstrate that it can survive even in extremely dangerous, harsh conditions. Ideally, the move would win over customers eager to launch their payloads into space using the Falcon Heavy system. Such a launch is expected to cost about $90 million, a discount compared to other space endeavors.

From there, it'll take about six months for the Roadster to actually get to Mars orbit, Musk said in a tweet Tuesday.

Follow Starman's journey here: