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Elon Musk has brought forward his ambitious plans to launch rockets that will take humans to Mars after the 'successful' Falcon Heavy mission which was heralded a new era for space exploration.

Despite the rocket missing its Mars orbit and shooting off towards an asteroid field, the SpaceX founder urged other rocket companies to join him in a “new space race” as he boasted of his latest mission using the biggest and most powerful rocket ever to leave Earth.

The billionaire business magnate has now said the timeline for reaching the Red Planet has been brought forward and laid out plans to test a new even bigger "beast" rocket next year.

Speaking after his incredible SpaceX rocket stunned the world when it blasted out of the atmosphere on Tuesday, Mr Musk said other spacecraft firms will now raise their sights to compete with the success of his latest mission.

SpaceX Falcon launch - In pictures 14 show all SpaceX Falcon launch - In pictures 1/14 SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral AP 2/14 SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket climbs towards space Reuters 3/14 Incredible footage shows the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket passing Earth AP 4/14 SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk Getty Images 5/14 SpaceX's gigantic Falcon Heavy rocket successfully blasted off from its launch pad SpaceX 6/14 SpaceX livestream video shows "Starman" sitting in SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's cherry red Tesla roadster after the Falcon Heavy rocket delivered it into orbit around the Earth 7/14 Incredible footage shows the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in orbit AFP/Getty Images 8/14 Printed on the circuit board of a car in deep space 9/14 Incredible footage shows the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in orbit AP 10/14 SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral AP 11/14 The crowd cheers at Playalinda Beach in the Canaveral National Seashore, just north of the Kennedy Space Center, during the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket AP 12/14 Visitors have staked out spots near to the fishing pier at Jetty Park to watch the rocket launch Reuters 13/14 SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral AP 14/14 A red Tesla Roadster is seen during preparations to use it as a mock payload for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida REUTERS 1/14 SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral AP 2/14 SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket climbs towards space Reuters 3/14 Incredible footage shows the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket passing Earth AP 4/14 SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk Getty Images 5/14 SpaceX's gigantic Falcon Heavy rocket successfully blasted off from its launch pad SpaceX 6/14 SpaceX livestream video shows "Starman" sitting in SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's cherry red Tesla roadster after the Falcon Heavy rocket delivered it into orbit around the Earth 7/14 Incredible footage shows the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in orbit AFP/Getty Images 8/14 Printed on the circuit board of a car in deep space 9/14 Incredible footage shows the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in orbit AP 10/14 SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral AP 11/14 The crowd cheers at Playalinda Beach in the Canaveral National Seashore, just north of the Kennedy Space Center, during the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket AP 12/14 Visitors have staked out spots near to the fishing pier at Jetty Park to watch the rocket launch Reuters 13/14 SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral AP 14/14 A red Tesla Roadster is seen during preparations to use it as a mock payload for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida REUTERS

He said: "I think it's going to encourage other countries and companies to raise their sights and say, 'We can do bigger and better', which is great. We want a new space race, because races are exciting."

Mr Musk, 46, described the mission as “silly and fun” as he said he hoped the incredible show of the power of space travel would “get people excited around the world”.

He now plans to continue development of the next generation of spacecraft, known as the BFR, with the aim of providing a passenger service to Mars in a decade.

Under plans published in journal New Space, the billionaire said he hoped to create a “Mars Colonial Fleet” of more than one thousand cargo ships that could transport 200 passengers at a time, along with materials to build homes, industrial plants and shops, to the planet.

He said: “I think there are really two fundamental paths. One path is we stay on Earth forever, and then there will be some eventual extinction. The alternative is to become a space-bearing civilisation and a multi-planetary species.”

Mr Musk said he does not plan to fly people on the Falcon Heavy, but that he is accelerating the development of an even bigger rocket that he described as a "beast".

Before dashing off to the red planet, Mr Musk said he would want to try out this spaceship in orbit around Earth - possibly in three to four years with the supersize rocket - and then the moon.

At a news conference Tuesday night, he told reporters that he may begin test flights of the mega spaceship in Texas as early as next year.

Under separate proposals, Mr Musk had also said he wants to create an intercontinental rocket flight for passengers that would take under half an hour.

Under the project, a rocket flight between London and New York would take just 29 minutes.

A space-suited mannequin was at the wheel of Mr Musk’s Falcon Heavy. It was named “Starman” after the David Bowie song.

A sign on the dashboard repeated the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy mantra “Don’t panic!” while Bowie’s Life On Mars? plays on a loop on the radio. One of the circuit boards on the car has the message “Made on Earth by humans.”

Stunning footage of the launch showed the rocket blast off as its monstrous engines roared during take-off at 3.45pm EST (8.45 UK time).

The billionaire entrepreneur Mr Musk transfixed earthlings with the launch of but yesterday admitted it had since unexpectedly taken something of a wrong turn.