Elon Musk's Roadster Is Heading for the Asteroid Belt The third and final burn worked too well and means the Roadster will overshoot its planned Mars orbit.

By Matthew Humphries

This story originally appeared on PCMag

via PC Mag

Yesterday, SpaceX made history by successfully launching the world's most powerful rocket with a Tesla Roadster as a payload. The launch captured the world's attention, amazed everyone with that synchronized rocket landing, and left Elon Musk tripping out. However, it wasn't completely without fault.

While we saw two rockets land perfectly, the center core was only seen descending. SpaceX later confirmed that the center core had been lost as it missed its landing platform.


SpaceX will gather all the data, learn why it happened, and fix the problem for next time.

The second problem can't really be fixed. As The Verge reports, following a six-hour cruise phase, the engine bolted to the back of the Roadster carried out a third and final burn. The burn happened, but ended up being a little too successful and exceeded the Mars orbit. So rather than ending up at Mars, the Roadster is on course to visit the asteroid belt and will pass by the dwarf planet Ceres.


There is still a lot of data to crunch before we will be told exactly what path the car will now follow. The infinite elliptical orbit between Mars and the sun doesn't look like it can happen anymore, though.

SpaceX and Musk can't be too upset by this as the most important parts of the mission went extremely well. The team proved they can build and launch the world's most powerful rocket and carry payloads into deep space.

Matthew Humphries

Senior Editor

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Starting a Business

We Built a 7-Figure Business Without a Single Investor — Here's Why Saying No to VC Was Our Smartest Move

Bootstrapping wasn't our original plan — but turning down venture capital taught us how to build a profitable, mission-driven company with total ownership and zero regrets.

Business News

77-Year-Old 'Godfather of AI' Says His Girlfriend Dumped Him Via ChatGPT: 'It Didn't Make Me Feel Too Bad'

Geoffrey Hinton says his ex used the AI chatbot to articulate the reasons why she was breaking up with him.

Business News

An AI-Made Animated Feature Film Backed By OpenAI Is Premiering Next Year

The feature-length movie, called "Critterz," is being made mainly with AI tools and is expected to debut at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Marketing

Is AI the Future of PR, or Will Emotional Intelligence Win Out?

Forget predictions about 2030 being a turning point; AI has already taken over the business world. But it will never replace the timeless principles of public relations.

Buying / Investing in Business

Big Investors Are Betting on This 'Unlisted' Stock

You can join them as an early-stage investor as this company disrupts a $1.3T market.