US aerospace manufacturer SpaceX will launch a new rocket on Tuesday. Named Falcon Heavy, the rocket is expected to upgrade American space transportation capabilities. Our correspondent John Zarrella has more. 

This was the final hurdle before the big show. Twenty-seven engines tucked inside three boosters all powered up and running. Called a static fire, its success set the stage for the main event. After more than six years in development, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket sits on the pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It's poised for the first test flight that could dramatically alter the future of space transportation.

DALE KETCHAM VICE PRESIDENT, SPACE FLORIDA "If we can successfully launch this, it will be such a huge new industrial capability for the United States of America to cheaply and reliably get a big piece of hardware up into space."

The Falcon Heavy is billed as the most powerful rocket in the world. It can muscle into orbit twice the payload of its closest competitor.

DALE KETCHAM VICE PRESIDENT, SPACE FLORIDA "This will be the largest payload capacity since the Saturn Five."

The Falcon Heavy will lift off from Pad 39A where the Apollo astronauts launched to the moon on top their Saturn Fives. This new vehicle is revolutionary, designed to take cargo and humans to low earth orbit and beyond, including the Moon and Mars. Because its boosters land back on earth and are re-usable, the cost to launch can be 90 million dollars, considerably less than other rockets on the market today. The payload for this test flight? Get this is going to Mars, a red Tesla Roadster owned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk. He also owns Tesla.

JOHN ZARRELLA FLORIDA "Every launch, people gather along this road to watch lift off. This was no exception and when the Falcon Heavy takes off you won't get a parking space."

Dozens of people stood along the water's edge watching a recent liftoff of this smaller Space X Falcon 9. But the Falcon Heavy is a heavyweight attraction. Tens of thousands are expected. It's not just a launch, it's an event.

"What you're looking at here is a mock-up of the Orion capsule which is the capsule that's going to take us to Mars eventually." Therrin Protze runs the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Some event packages sold out in a day. They are expecting a crowd of 14 thousand.

THERRIN PROTZE COO, KENNEDY SPACE CENTER VISITOR COMPLEX "We had some folks calling from England and Germany that are working to come out here for the launch because it's that special."

Musk himself has been tamping down expectations saying 'there's a good chance this first flight could fail'. Either way, it's going to be some show. John Zarrella CGTN-America at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.