A cherry red Tesla car was launched into space on Tuesday by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, with David Bowie’s song Space Oddity playing on repeat.

Thousands of people gathered in Florida to watch the launch - the culmination of a plan five years in the making.

Mr Musk used a super rocket – the Falcon Heavy vehicle – to send the car into orbit around Mars, deploying technology with twice the launching power of any existing rocket.

The Spacex CEO had billed the take-off as a risky first attempt, saying the challenges of building the Roadster meant the chances of success might only be 50-50.