SpaceX fires up its biggest rocket, paving way for a test flight

Elon Musk says Falcon Heavy, his company's newest rocket, will launch 'in a week or so' after test at Kennedy Space Center

SpaceX fired up its newest, biggest rocket in a critical launch pad test on Wednesday, advancing toward a long-anticipated test flight possibly in just a week.

The Falcon Heavy briefly roared to life for the first time at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center. All three boosters - 27 engines in all - were tested. The thunderous booms could be heard at the press site three miles away, as huge white clouds of engine exhaust billowed into a clear blue sky. Everything appeared normal: the 230ft (70-meter) rocket stood tall and brilliantly white after the test on the historic pad once used by Nasa's Apollo moon rockets and space shuttles.