--- title: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Has Successful Static Test Fire description: SpaceX successfully fired all 27 engines of its massive, 230-foot Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time Wednesday. canonical: https://time.com/5116996/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test-fire/ author: Alex Fitzpatrick article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-24T19:44:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:43:40.035Z article:section: Science og:title: Watch SpaceX Test-Fire its Massive Falcon Heavy Rocket for the First Time og:description: The successful test paves the way for Falcon Heavy's first flight og:url: https://time.com/5116996/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test-fire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538881eaffcbaab6/6988f959fb4eac13178956b6/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Static Test og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch SpaceX Test-Fire its Massive Falcon Heavy Rocket for the First Time twitter:description: The successful test paves the way for Falcon Heavy's first flight twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538881eaffcbaab6/6988f959fb4eac13178956b6/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch SpaceX Test-Fire its Massive Falcon Heavy Rocket for the First Time  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Jan 24, 2018 7:44 PM UTC  SpaceX Falcon Heavy Static Test SpaceX Falcon Heavy Static TestSpaceX  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Jan 24, 2018 7:44 PM UTC All 27 engines of SpaceX’s massive Falcon Heavy rocket roared to life together for the first time Wednesday, violently spewing exhaust and steam in a successful static fire test that paves the way for the spacecraft’s inaugural launch. In a static test, a rocket’s engines are lit but the spacecraft is secured to a platform; it’s a standard procedure meant to ensure a rocket is ready for an actual launch. Following the Falcon Heavy static test, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the craft could fly in as early as “a week or so.” That follows years of delays as the spacecraft proved more difficult to build than expected and SpaceX grappled with failures of its Falcon 9 rocket, upon which the Falcon Heavy is based. > [](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/956233892637286400) > [](https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/956236301275054080) The Falcon Heavy’s initial flights will be unmanned, while future launches might have payloads like satellites and other space-bound equipment. SpaceX has also floated the idea of using Falcon Heavy to fling high-spending space tourists off planet Earth and back.  SpaceX Falcon Heavy SpaceX The Falcon Heavy — essentially three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together — is seen as the world’s most powerful rocket since NASA’s Apollo-era Saturn V, capable of producing more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5116996/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test-fire/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5116996/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test-fire/"},"headline":"Watch SpaceX Test-Fire its Massive Falcon Heavy Rocket for the First Time","datePublished":"2018-01-24T19:44:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:43:40.035Z","description":"The successful test paves the way for Falcon Heavy's first flight","url":"https://time.com/5116996/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test-fire/","keywords":["SpaceX","Tech","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538881eaffcbaab6/6988f959fb4eac13178956b6/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538881eaffcbaab6/6988f959fb4eac13178956b6/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SpaceX Falcon Heavy Static Test","caption":"SpaceX Falcon Heavy Static Test","creditText":"SpaceX","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/spacex/","name":"SpaceX"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5116996/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-test-fire/","name":"Watch SpaceX Test-Fire its Massive Falcon Heavy Rocket for the First Time"}}]}] ```