That's because it will "coast" for six hours through the Van Allen radiation belt, where it may "get whacked pretty hard," he said.
DOUBLING LIFT CAPACITY
The Falcon Heavy is essentially three of the company's Falcon 9 rockets bolted together.
With a total of 27 Merlin engines, it's capable of generating "more than 5 million pounds (2.3 million kg) of thrust at liftoff, equal to about eighteen 747 aircraft," according to SpaceX.
Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit.
The rocket will be able to lift 64 tons into orbit, doubling the lift capacity of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost, the company said.
Jason Davis of the Planetary Society hailed the demo flight as "a huge deal, even for a spaceflight company that routinely accomplishes huge deals."
"An operational Falcon Heavy will make SpaceX the proud owner of the most powerful rocket system since the Saturn V, and opens up yet another corner of the launch industry to serious competition," he wrote in a blog article.
Eric Stallmer, president of the U.S. Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said the successful launch "represents a momentous milestone for SpaceX and the commercial space industry, as the first heavy lift launch vehicle developed and launched with fully private funding."
"As we look forward to all that 2018 holds for the U.S. commercial space industry, this is an exciting way to kick off the new year," Stallmer said in a statement.
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