SPACE: A Year After SpaceX’s 1st Falcon Heavy Launch, Starman (and a Tesla) Sail On. “On Feb. 6, 2018, SpaceX’s huge Falcon Heavy rocket aced its maiden flight, launching Musk’s cherry-red Tesla Roadster and its mannequin driver, Starman, into orbit around the sun. The Roadster is journeying on an elliptical path, which takes it out beyond Mars at apogee (the most distant point from the sun) and near Earth’s orbit at perigee (closest solar approach). Car and driver moved beyond Mars’ orbit in early November, and they’re still out there now, more than 226 million miles (364 million kilometers) from Earth, according to the tracking site whereisroadster.com. And the Roadster will stay out in those distant reaches for a while yet — its orbital period is about 557 Earth days.”